Teen Titans and the Thousand Year Door
by The Unknown Alias
Summary: Prequel to KT. The Titans get sent into Paper Mario. Now you may think that this just another crossover fic. You're wrong. These events shall lead to the coming of the shadows, and the fate of two worlds hang in the balence. All in the hands of BB.
1. What Goes On

Back from the dead, here to reek its not really improved being into re-existence, it's this story! I thought I might as well as bring the story back in celebration of my fanauthorversairy! This April 1st, I had become a Fanfiction author one year ago! Yay me! Now I know that this story will end up as a disaster, so we might as well as get this train wreck started! Here we go!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or Mario.**

_Time set: after season four, before season five.

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_

Teen Titans and the Thousand Year Door

Chapter 1  
What goes on?

So many things can happen in one day. Few people realize this, but it happens all the time. In just one day, September 11 to be exact, events occurred that caused the war on terror. In just one day, a certain J.K. Rowling created one of the world's best book series all just because she forgot her pen. And just one day soon in this summer there could be the creation of Pirates of the Caribbean 4, 5, and 6 if things turn out well enough.

But in this story, things will happen that will set off a chain reaction. The events that will be caused include the reawakening of the king of all darkness, the multiple near ends of the worlds, the destruction of the fourth wall, and of course, Super Toilet. (So much clogging!)

* * *

_Today, I'm going to tell you the story of the Thousand-Year Door. A long time ago, in a land completely separate from our world, a big bustling town lived. In the town, all lived happy lives and the land was prosperous. But as with all gains, a loss was endured. A catechism stuck. The earth shook, lightning crashed as often as the rain; it was as if hell was raging on the world. And in just a night, it vanished and the town sank into the depths of the earth._

_Many years passed, and tales of the town were sent to the section of folklore. And once the land was barren, newcomers arrived and built a new town on the site. But rumor began to spread that the ruins of a city lay beneath them with a treasure resting inside._

_Indeed… This is the tale of the fabled treasure of the Thousand-Year Door of Rougeport. However our tale does not begin here. No, it begins in another world with a certain green child who lived in a 'T'. The tale of the quest for the ledgendary treasure and the Thousand-Year Door starts here.

* * *

_

Beast Boy's knuckles whitened. His teeth clenched, his mind racing a mile a minute. Reflexes and timing were needed for this. Left, right, leftrightleft, down, pivot, parry, defend, cower, thrust, **SMACK!** BB moaned as the sound went off. The words 'Winner, Cyborg!' came on the screen as the game ended.

"Oh yeah baby!" Cyborg gloated in his victory, "Who's the champion now? I kicked your green butt!"

BB just moaned again. "I'm going for some tofu."

They both were by their lonesome in the common room on a slow day. Crime hasn't been acting up lately since Trigon's defeat, and there was still no sign of Slade yet. So things were just moving pokey slow. BB went over to the fridge and screamed.

"Ahhhh! Where's the tofu?!?"

"Oh, that?" Cyborg asked casually, "I threw it all out."

"You threw my tofu away?!?!?"

"Well sure. No surprise."

In the moment after that, BB was making various humorous poses, seeming about to speak yet remaining silent. He then went to the elevator.

"Hey are you going?" Cyborg called.

"I'm going to the store to get more tofu!" and with the door closed.

Cyborg was in peril. "But who am I gonna beat in the meantime?"

* * *

Meanwhile in another world, the first of many life-changing events start to take place. All beginning with a girl coming to the town square of a port town. She was in a bright pink dress with white gloves, a golden crown and just as golden hair cascading down her back Mario fans would recognize her as Princess Peach.

"Finally! I get a moment without Toadsworth watching over me! He' so paranoid. I come all the way here on vacation, just to be stuck with him. He's so stifling! Sometimes I like go on my own and see what I want."

Peach looked around the town, which was covered in graffiti, unseemly fellows, and someone hanging their heart covered boxers out to dry. "But now that I'm seeing it, I see that this town has a… distinct flavor."

"Oh missy! Missy!" a creaky female voice sounded.

Peach turned in surprise to see just a hunched figure cloaking herself in a robe so that even her face couldn't be seen. "Oh, you mean me?"

"Yes, you missy! Please won't to purchase something? I have a wide assortment of knickknacks and doodads!"

Peach looked over the mat, which had all kinds of things on it. Let's see… a couple of crystals, a shrunken head, a pokeball, a tablet depicting Armageddon being brought by Chuck Norris, ooh! Surround sound and plasma screen! Oh, and there was a chest.

"Ooh!" Peach spoke once noticing the chest. "That's a pretty chest!"

"Ah, yes. The chest," the merchant spoke picking said chest up. "This box is said to have a map inside leading to where a legendary treasure rests. However the box has a lock that will open to only one of a pure heart, so one such as myself can't even budge it."

She then rapidly a savagely tried to open it, but box wouldn't. And Peach could tell that she was not faking it. "Ooh!"

"Yes," the merchant said with an unseen smile. "Listen, if you were to open the box, then you may have what's inside. I'm certain it would be of no use to me. Now take the box missy, and see what happens."

"Oh, why not?" Peach agreed. "It won't do any harm."

Oh if she only knew. She then took the box in her hands and started with a gentle nudge. But to all's surprise, it opened.

* * *

BB sighed as he came out of the store. He now had a full stock of tofu in his hands and was about to head home. He was just about to transform when his communicator went off. He flipped it open as Robin's face appeared.

"Beast Boy, where are you?" Robin shouted.

"I'm at the store getting tofu. Didn't Cy tell you?"

"Well put it in hold," he commanded. "We just got an alert that the HIVE is attacking at the docks. Get there now, we'll meet you there."

The transmission ended as BB put it back into his pocket. He ran into the store to have them hold his order before taking off. As he did so, an unnatural storm began to pick up. It was about to happen.

When he arrived there, he was surprised to say the least as his breath cached. On the cement of the pier were the others, and even the HIVE. Jinx, Mammoth, and Gizmo seemed to have taken the worse of the hit. On the ground between the two groups were the scorching marks of an explosion. Supposedly a bomb.

He ran over to the other Titans in a frantic attempt to check if they were okay. He didn't have any medical knowledge, but he did know how to find a heart beat. Checking the Titans, he found that their pulses were normal and Cyborg's built in computer said that he was fine as well. BB then checked the HIVE, also getting the same results.

But he was confused. As far as he knew, explosions were way too big for them to come out so unscathed. He wondered just what happened here when his ears perked up. There was a voice.

"_Crystal Star, hear my command. Bring the hero here, so that world conquest shall begin anew. Bring the one who shall serve as the key, to bring everlasting darkness upon this and all realms!"_

As the voice died out, the wind around them picked up. The storm grew worse, until a vortex opened up in the clouds above. BB could only scream as it sucked him and his companions up. Once they disappeared, the vortex closed and the storm vanished without a trace.

In the vortex, BB and the unconscious crew throttled down the passage until they ended in a blue dome. Once the room stopped spinning, he looked at where they were. All around them was a big sphere of brick with a bright white 4 painted across it. Then small holes were made in it, one for the each of them. Suddenly BB's eyes went wide. To his side, Starfire was sucked through a hole like water into a straw. The rest then started as well.

BB shook his head rapidly at the sight, hoping that something would be made clear to him. But then he was sucked into his hole and they disappeared. BB was rocketed down the tunnel, then his vision turned white and all became blank.

* * *

Back in the other world, other events were opening up. At a yellow house with a red roof, a turtle with wings (parakoopa) flew down to a nearby blue mailbox and slipped a letter in. And with a shout of 'Mail call!' he flew away. Then out of the house came a pudgy man with a thick stache, blue overalls, a red shirt and a red cap with an 'M' on it. He pulled out the letter to read.

_Hello there Mario!_

_I am now on holiday, traveling in the Mushroom Kingdom. In my travels, I came into possession of a map… a treasure map actually. It was inside a box I got from an old merchant in a town called Rougeport. But since it would be too difficult for me to try to go find treasure all by myself, I thought you could help me hunt for it! You will of course, won't you? I've included the map with this letter, so please bring it with you when you come. I'll meet you at Rougeport. (That means you MUST come!)_

_Princess Peach.

* * *

_

Meanwhile, in a place yet to be known, a single eye opens. The figure rises and walks forward. He walks past the growing shelves and piles of scrolls, books and tablets. He arrives at a door in the form of a book and opens it. He passes through and arrives at a circular room with more shelves, but only with bits of stone and scraps of paper in it. But in the middle of the room was a crystal ball.

He waves his hands over it and the mist inside clears to show our little Beast Boy, resting between boxes of cargo. But the place was where the figure was concerned. The time had arrived.

"Ravage! Oblivion! Yaman!" the figure shouted.

Three books then appeared and opened. Three figures approached through. "Yes master Parsnep?" the one known as Ravage spoke.

"The time has arrived," Parsnep spoke. "Go off to the lands of Rougeport and fetch the prophecy scrolls. We must begin to prepare for the rise of the shadows. The first shall be within the Shwonk Fortress. Now go!"

And with that, the figures disappeared in flashes of light.

* * *

_The Legend of Rougeport  
Part 1. The Fearsome Demon_

_Ages ago, a city flourished here in peace in splendor, but it was destroyed in a single day by a demon from the dark beyond. Historians claim a great calamity befell the city, but nay... 'twas a demon. The city sank below ground, and one-quarter of the old city became the demon's den. This demon put fear into the hearts of all men and sent out minions to take the land. And its den, its palace, grew rich with the treasures stolen from all over the world.

* * *

_

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the beginning. I know it's short, but I couldn't do much without getting too far. And fear not, the chapters shall get longer! I will have no beta tester, and only four maximum OC's shall appear, and they were the above mentioned. Starting the next chapter, they will get long to at least 6 pages each instead of this 4 page one. Finally, Kingdom Titans will not be updated as much since this is back on my plate. So sorry.

Unknown Alias status: signed out.

'I don't want to die, but it wouldn't the end of the world to me.'


	2. A Rouge's Welcome

Now loading the save file from the memory card in slot A. Please don't press the power or reset button or remove/insert the memory card... The save file has been loaded.

Teen Titans and the Thousand Year Door 

Chapter 2  
A Rouge's Welcome  


* * *

Soft snoring could be heard from the pudgy man as the boat neared the dock of a town. A creature with a mushroom on his head, known as a toad, came up to the man and shook him. 

"Excuse me, sir?"

The man rolled to the side a bit, muttering "Ah, lots-a meatballs Daisy," in his sleep. The toad shook him again.

"Please wake up sir! The town you'd been speaking of has come into view. Look! That's Rougeport!"

This got the man up. He slowly opened his as he got used to the light. And near in the distance were a small port and a stone wall surrounding the town.

"You see?" the toad spoke, "We'll arrive shortly. Please prepare to disembark."

Meanwhile, a certain someone else was waking up as well. The first sound that he heard was the sound of the seagulls' caws. As Beast Boy wiped his eyes to get used to the light, the boat pulled into the dock, letting the pudgy man off.

"I must apologize sir," the same toad said to the man, "our arrival was delayed just a bit by rough weather. Are you quite sure you want to disembark here? I did tell you all the sordid tales about Rougeport on our way here, did I not?"

BB slowly climbed to his feet as he took in his surroundings. Apparently crates surrounded him on a pier. But what he couldn't believe was the creatures that he sees. They're the occasional toads, but there were bomb like creatures with shoes and a wind up key coming out of their backs. These are Bob-ombs. BB slid back down to the ground as he tried to contemplate what was happening. Meanwhile back with the boat…

"I'm sorry? You say there's a princess waiting here for you?" the toad clarified. The man just gave a short nod. "Is that so? Er… of course sir. Well, if that's what you think, then I won't stop you. But uh, you be careful sir. Don't say I didn't warn you!"

And with that, the boat turned around and headed off. In the meantime, BB came out of the crates around the pier. Instantly many questions sounded in his head. Where is he? Where are his friends? What happened to them? How'd he get here? And why can't people believe it's not butter?

He slowly came out as a bob-omb came up to him.

"Oy! Welcome to Rougeport! Bit of a nasty place eh? You got guts comin' here. You look a bit green, so ave' a wee bit of advice on me: go to that save point to save. Cause the thing about life is that ya never know when you're gonna kick the ol' bucket."

With that, the sailor left as BB pondered. He never heard of a place called 'Rougeport' before. And he thinks that the sailor was making a jab at him being green. Before he ponders any further, a shriek sounded.

"Hey! What do you want? Get away from me freak!"

All eyes fell on the arriving scene as four figures arrived. One was a mushroom like being with a face, which is known as a Goomba. But the figure had rosy cheeks, a pith helmet with a light, a khaki shirt, a red tie, and blonde hair tied back into a ponytail. But the figures before her were much weirder. There were two figures in uniforms. They had white hats, goggles, white collars, red shirts with black x's on them, white gloves and white shoes with red soles.

The final figure, supposedly the two thugs' leader, was a bit more elaborate. He had a purple cap, goggles, a red collar with matching cape, a black shirt with a white x, white gloves, purple pants and fancy black shoes. The was the figure to speak first.

"Oh come off it you airhead! I know it's hard for you, but don't play dumb with me! I've seen you walking around for information about the Crystal Stars. Well now I'm doing the asking, so be a good girl and tell us what you know. Right. NOW!"

"Never!" the goomba girl retaliated. "I don't have anything to say to you creeps!"

"I suppose it wouldn't be right if a sassy little lass like you met with an untimely demise," the man said angrily. "Buh, buh, buh huh huh! Boys, we're taking this little firebrand to our fortress!"

The thugs stood at attention. "As you command Lord Crump! We're on it!"

"N-no!" the girl said frightened. "Stop right there you weirdos! I'll scream! Really!"

BB's eyes narrowed. It looks like even in a place that he didn't know about; he'll have to do some crimefighting. He rushed forward till he was near the goomba girl. He then looked to side in surprise as the pudgy man came up as well. The girl noticed them and ran behind them.

"Like I'd go anywhere with smelly lunatics like you! Hmph! Not likely!" she shouted at her assaults.

"Whuh?" Crump mumbled at the defenders. "What do you think you're doing chumps? You think you can screw up my plans?" BB and the man only took battle stances. "Gah! It's always something… Looks like I'm going to have to give you two a little taste of the old CRUMP-A-BOMB!"

Crump ran forward, about to do a body slam. But the pudgy man just swung out hammer from out of nowhere and knocked him back. BB then took this time and transformed into a lion. He roared proudly as he leaped forward with a swipe. However, Crump was more agile than he looked and leaped back receiving only a scratch on his chest. The girl stood wide-eyed at her defenders. Look closely and you could've sworn that there was a blush. Finally the pudgy man jumped into the air, and slammed both feet on Crump not once, but twice. Crump fell back as he was beat.

"Buh, Buh, Buh huh huh! Ok, you got a couple of decent shots in, I'll give you that. But, unfortunately for you, that means IT'S GO TIME!"

Suddenly out of nowhere, about fifty more of the thugs came out of nowhere, creating a mob around the three. "PUNISH THEM!" And just like that, they were swarmed with the soldiers colliding with them.

It looked like there was no way out. It would take a stupid miracle to escape. One stupid miracle, coming up! As the swarm continued, a new figure had appeared out of nowhere. He was of green fur, had an elephant trunk and feet, and was wearing a purple flower tourist shirt. The figure made his way through the crowd, not getting hit once, and pulled out Beast Boy. The figure dragged him off to the side.

"Wow, thanks man!" BB said with gasp to catch his breath. "Can you help me get the other two?"

"Yes," the figure said stupidly and rushed back in. He pulled the man and the girl and dragged back to BB as the attack continued.

"Thanks," BB said again. "Come on guys, let's get out of here!"

With that the trio went off, leaving the figure behind. He just blinked stupidly and stood there. Meanwhile in the crowd, Crump finally realized something.

"**STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!**"

Just like that the crowd died down with Crump in the middle of the group. He looked around and was angry.

"Where'd they go, huh? You! Johnson! Did you see them? Did anyone?"

Not a soul replied as Crump's temper grew. "CRUD! They bolted!"

Then the green figure came up. "Hey, hey, Crump?"

Crump narrowed his eyes at the figure. _'Oh no, not him again.'_ "What'd you want now Fred Fredburger?"

"Where are the nachos?"

"How many times do I have to tell you? There are no nachos!"

"…Pizza?"

* * *

The trio entered Town Square as they have escaped. They were all panting, out of breath. The girl was the first to catch her breath again. 

"Wow! You guys totally saved me! Thanks! I just got to give you a little reward!"

The girl then came to the man and gave him a peck on the cheek. BB snickered at this until the girl came to him. She then leaped up and gave a peck on his lips. There visible blushes on both of them.

"My name's Goombella," she introduced. "I'm a student at the University of Goom. Nice to meet ya! So, who are you two?"

"Who, me?" BB said with a smile. "Why, I'm Beast Boy!" he exclaimed as he took a pose. It's obvious that his ego is blowing. Goombella then turned to the man.

"Mario," he simply said.

"Mario?" Goombella spoke with surprise, "Wait, you mean like, that famous guy? Wow! I can't believe I met you here! Cool! Anyway, no offense, but it looks like the both of you just rolled into town yourself, right? Me, I already hate it here! There are freaks and weirdos everywhere! It's nasty! I mean, I know the place is called ROUGEport, so I should have expected it, but sheesh! I'd never come to a place like this if there weren't some legendary treasure here."

Both BB's and Mario's ears perked up at this. "You're-a looking for it-a too?"

"Wait, you're looking for the legendary treasure too?" Goombella repeated. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," Mario confirmed. "In fact, I have-a this!" he finished as he pulled out what looked like a weathered old paper.

"Whoa whoa WHOA bucko!" Goombella said excited, "What is that? Omigosh! Is, isn't that a treasure map? You HAVE to tell me where you got that!"

"Princess Peach," Mario said with a slight loving tone.

"Wait a minute," BB interrupted. "Who? Princess Peach?"

Then a new voice sounded. "Great hoogly-boogly! If it isn't master Mario! Bit of coincidence, bumping into one another in this sort of place hm? Ho ho!"

Before them stood an aged toad with a thick white mustache, a purple vest, gray shirt, white pants and brown shoes with a scepter in his right hand. This is Toadsworth.

"So tell me master Mario, what in the world brings you to this wretched little burg?"

"A letter and a treasure map from Princess Peach telling me to meet her here," Mario replied. "So, do you happen to know where she-a is?"

"Where she is?" Toadsworth asked with a sudden tone of fright. "Erm… I was about to ask you that. We stopped in this town to acquire a spot of fuel for our ship don't you know. I only took my eye off her for a moment, but as soon as I did, she vanished."

"WHAT?" shouted Mario causing them all to jump back a bit.

"You know how headstrong she is Mario, I just assumed she'd be back momentarily, but at this point, I fear we must embrace the possibility that she may never return. I've been at a loss as to what to do. I've been fraught with worry I tell you! But I'm feeling better with you here master Mario. Surely we'll find her! Surely! But I know my place, master Mario, and this is not it. I leave this task to you. Now, if you need me, I'll be resting in the inn. I suggest you do the same if your health isn't up to standards. Especially with the rest of the town being… rough."

After that rather long speech, the elderly toad left to the nearby inn. Goombella finally spoke again, asking of Mario.

"Um… Princess Peach? Did he mean like, Peach, the Mushroom Kingdom princess? The princess who always gets nabbed by Bowser, the Koopa King? The one you rescue? Wait a sec! This is crazy! Princess PEACH sent you that treasure map?"

"Yep, that's what he said," BB answered airily.

"Whoa," Goombella continued with an amazed face. "This is really intense. Well, where could she have gone then do you think? You think maybe she got sick of waiting and went to find the treasure on her own?"

Mario placed his hand on his lowered chin as he pondered this. BB in the meantime was trying to make sense of this. Apparently this Mario guy was a big hero with his greatest enemy being an evil king. This place is called Rougeport, and there seems to be a legendary treasure here. Apparently it's because of this that Princess Peach was here before disappearing. She is also being missing, and the princess of a kingdom. He heard this before somewhere…… some kind of a video game….

"Ooh! Ooh! I know guys! Come with me!" Goombella spoke, breaking BB's train of thought. "One of my professors is here researching that treasure. We'll show him your map! If we start looking for the treasure, then maybe we'll catch up to Princess Peach!"

After a quick moment of contemplating, both Mario and BB nodded their heads in agreement.

"Great!" Goombella proclaimed. "We're all good then! Let's go guys! First off, we gotta go find my professor. Thing is, since I just got to town myself, I… don't actually know where he lives. So keep an eye out! Here's what professor Frankly looks like."

She then pulled out a wallet and opened it up to show a picture. It was a goomba that was bald with hair on the sides, bushy eyebrows, giant glasses and two bottom teeth sticking out on either end. But he had a jester's hat on, ridiculous face paint and mostly empty glasses of something near him. Something told BB that he didn't want to know the story behind that photo.

* * *

The group arrived at a house in the East Side of Rougeport. From what they heard from the locals, this should be the professor's house. They opened the door and entered. All throughout the house there here shelves of books and rolled up scrolls and only three things were noticeable. They were a yellow trash bin, a desk, and one professor Frankly. Goombella was the first to sound. 

"Oh, hi! There you are professor Frankly!"

"Whuzzuh?" the goomba said confused as he took notice of his guests. "Who's there? Who wants me?" His gaze then arrives on Goombella. "Ah. Yes, you. Now, you, uh… I've seen your face before, yes that face… Wait for it! Just a moment, don't tell me now, silence! I'll get it right! Now, it's not Goombriel, it's not Elizagoom… hrrrmmmm, errrrmmm, A-HAAA! I've got it! You're Goombella, aren't you? You were in my archaeology class last year, am I right?"

"Wow, yes sir!" Goombella said beaming. "That's me! I'm Goombella, a junior at U Goom! Go Goombas!"

"Of course I remember you!" Frankly said happily. "Not to toot my horn, but I'm pretty good at remembering. You though, you stick out in my mind because you were such an exceptional student." His gaze then landed on Mario and BB. "And those men behind you are… WHO?"

**ANIME FALL!**

"Well the green one is Beast Boy," Goombella introduced, "and the other is Mario! You know, the famous one?"

"Oh," Frankly said humbly, "My apologies. I'm such a bookworm that I haven't a clue about what's hip right now. In any case, what sort of errand brings you three all the way to a place like this?"

"We were hoping you'd tell us about the legendary treasure said to be below Rougeport!" Goombella answered. "I thought that if anyone knew anything about it, you would professor Frankly."

"Of course I know about it," Frankly confirmed. "The reason I came here was to study that very subject. But why do you tykes want to learn about the legendary treasure? You know that most say it's little more than a fairy tale, don't you?"

"Archaeologists and historians have to search for truth in fairy tales though!" Goombella spoke, "Me, I believe the legendary treasure truly does exist! And I really want to find it!"

"Good point," Frankly agreed. "And well made! In that case, I'll cooperate with you however I can. First of all, about the treasure. There are many mysteries surrounding it. Some say it's an infinitely vast treasure hoard, while others say it's a magical item. Some books say it's actually a monster, while still others claim it's an empty chest. So many different theories, obviously it's impossible to divine the truth among them. But all agree on one point: to find the treasure, one must have the Crystal Stars!"

"To find the treasure of yore, take the Crystal Stars to the Thousand Year Door!" Goombella quoted from memory. "You mean the Crystal Stars in that old saying that super elderly people pass down?"

"Indeed, the same" Frankly said. "As the saying goes, if you want to find the legendary treasure, you first must collect the seven Crystal Stars."

"Hold the magical map aloft before the entrance to the Thousand Year Door," Goombella quoted again, "Then the stars will light the way that leads to the stones of yesterday. Yeah. A lot of the lore I've read says that if this magical map is taken to the doorway then it'll show you where to find the Crystal Stars!"

"Correct!" Frankly continued. In the meantime BB kept shifting his head to each of the Goombas as they took their turn speaking. "And the Thousand Year Door is supposedly here, deep beneath this town! Yet the critical piece of the puzzle, the magical map, is lost. If only we had that map!"

"Your turn," BB said as he turned his head back to Goombella.

"But we do have it professor! Or, well not 'we' exactly, Mario has the magical map!"

"**WHAAAT?**" Frankly shouted as he started to have a small conniption and everyone was blown back by the force. "Hummina hubbity hubbida hippity hoobida hammala huffala hoofala… REALLY? You, you actually have it? Could I… just take a quick look at it, if you don't mind?"

Mario slowly drew out the map, unfolded it and handed it to the goomba. The professor looked over it carefully as his face continued to grow more excited. "Astounding! This is it! The real thing! The one and only magical map! You son, are my hero!" he shouted as he handed it back to Mario. "You're great! Fantastic! Wonderful even! With this, we can find the Crystal Stars just by holding this aloft before the legendary door! Good golly, what are we doing just sitting here then? Goombella! Mario! Beast Boy! Off we must go this instant! Let's take the magical map to the legendary door!"

At once he rushed the group out the door and across the road until they arrived at a green pipe coming up from the ground.

"Come now!" Frankly rushed. "We can use this pipe to get down under the city streets! Come on! All of you! Let's get moving!"

BB stared at the pipe uncertain. "Uh, dudes? If you think you're getting to go down a pipe then-HEY!"

Goombella had bit the scruff of his jumpsuit and dragged him down the pipe.

* * *

They arrived beneath the town, the sewers to be precise. But as they looked around, it looked more like the ruins of an ancient town rather than a sewer. They moved slowly as they looked around in amazement. But a rather rude voice interrupted their gaze. 

"Hey, hey! What's up man? Who's the hottie you got there with you?"

They looked to the voice and saw three normal goombas. One was just plain, another had wings, and the third had a helmet with a spike on his head. The winged one spoke next.

"Wassup baby? Why don't you hang with us for a while? We play real nice!"

"Man, what's a fine lookin goomba doin' with men like those?" the spiked one asked. "I mean one's a tubby mustache man and the other looks like he has a disease!"

While BB clenched his fists a bit, Goombella decided to answer. "Oh, it is like so sweet that you boys think I'm cute! Seriously! Yeah, guys like you make feel like TOTALLY BARFING! Now get out of our way!"

BB stared at her as her innocent disposition had switched like a light for an utter bashing. This girl had spunk! He could definitely get used to hanging around her. The goombas however weren't happy.

"Ouch!" the plain one said. "That was cold!"

"What, you're too good for us?" the winged one said angrily. "Come off it sister!"

"Nobody zings us like that!" the spiked one shouted. "Nobody! Let's get em!"

The entire group got into battle stances while Frankly stood off to the side, observing the enemies.

"A goomba, a spiny goomba and a paragoomba! The whole goomba family tree! The only one I should warn you about is that fellow in the middle: the spiny goomba. See that spike on his head? Well, jump on that and you're the one who'll take damage! The paragoomba's airborne, so your hammer won't reach. You'll have to jump for him. Always take your opponent's situation into consideration when fighting! Always!"

Once Frankly was done, both groups were at a stand off. Mario then rushed forward and leaped up into the air to the paragoomba. Goombella then rushed forward to do a headbonk on the goomba, and BB decided to follow suit and jump on the spiny goomba.

The second his foot landed, BB's eyes watered. He leaped off and rubbed his foot from the spike. The spiny goomba then rushed forward to tackle BB, but he thought fast and transformed. In that instant, BB had become a spiny goomba himself, causing the goomba to experience the pain. While the distraction happened, a hammer fell and slammed the goomba beating him. BB shifted back to normal as he noted of what he just did later. That will undoubtedly come in handy.

"Ha! Later on losers!" Goombella shouted happily at their victory. "That felt awesome!"

"Ah, but that's just the beginning!" Frankly spoke. "There are plenty more to come and they'll all have it in for us. All of you make sure to be careful so that we may get the first strike. Now let's get going."

* * *

The ruins were a maze. There was no other way to say it. There were multiple turns and twists, from blocks with faces to switches that revealed stairs. Nonetheless, … Wait a minute people, I just realized something! Goombas have no hands, right? So then, how do they pick things up? Do they have invisible hands or do they have telekinesis? I wanna know! Anyways… 

After traversing the maze, they've arrived into a large room. It was darker than the others, with a pedestal in the middle of the room were. And not even a stone's throw away was a large rose red door with gold patterns on it. Once they entered, Frankly was overcome with shock and joy.

"Mario, Goombella, Beast Boy! Look at that! It's the Thousand Year Door spoken of in the legends! I can't believe it's real! So the legends are all true! There it is, big as life! I must get a closer look!"

Frankly rushed forward in excitement, causing him to run straight into the door. As he was recovering the others were coming up. They looked around while Goombella was aiding the professor. BB then accidentally bumped into Mario, knocking him onto the pedestal. He cried out as suddenly light blue lights were arriving. One was an intricate pattern around the pedestal, and the second was a ring on the outer edge with seven circles in it. They looked in fascination before glaring at BB.

"I didn't do it!"

"What's going on professor?" Goombella shouted.

Suddenly a light glowed from Mario's pocket. The map rose out of it and unfolded itself in midair. Little flashes of light were shining off of it in the shape of stars until a large pillar of light shined from the ceiling and hit the map dead on. Goombella was amazed at this rare happening and that she was one of the firsts to see it. Frankly was amazed at the opportunity of the biggest archeological discovery of all time. Mario was concerned thinking that this would lead to another massive adventure worthy of becoming a video game. BB was wondering if Raven knew anything about this. After all, mystical matters were more her areas.

Finally, just as fast as it came, the map floated down and the lights died. Mario was now looking at the map shocked.

"Professor! The map!" Goombella said unable to control herself. "And what was with all those crazy lights?"

"Hrmmm…" the professor hummed. "It appears that information related to the locations of the Crystal Stars appeared. And that shining light, it looked as if a mysterious power was given to us. Well, one way or another, we should return to my place and study the map closely."

* * *

"Hrmmm… Aha! I see!" Frankly exclaimed after popping his nonexistent nose out of his book. 

"You understand it professor?" Goombella asked opening her eyes. She got so bored while they waited that she rested herself inside Frankly's trashcan. (Don't worry, it's empty.)

"My dear of course I do! Firstly, about that light we saw shining on Mario, by my reckoning Mario can now perform what is known as a special move. As for what a special move is, it requires amounts of energy (known as star energy and is expressed within units by dots.) from the party using it. And after the party has no more energy to use for them, then battling or resting must restore it. And apparently your energy will increase along with a new move if we obtain more Crystal Stars."

"So then what's the first-a power?" Mario asked while laying against the wall in a headstand.

"The move is called Sweat Treat. Summon the map and you'll get little stars. Then symbols will appear and you must hit them with the stars" Frankly explained. "Depending on what you hit, you can regain health for you or your power or energy for special moves that you can do on your own."

"So what about that thing with the map?" Goombella asked as she rocked the bin enough to have it fall over so she could get out.

"We'll I'm just about to find out," Frankly said as he turned his focus onto the map on his table. "So let's have a look at it and see what we can learn about the-"

His eyes then shot open wide.

"WOW! ASTOUNDING! (Everyone shoved their fingers in their ears at how loud he just was.) This map has radar-like functions! It now shows the location of a Crystal Star! It looks like the first is to be found in a place called the Petal Meadows."

"Petal-a Meadows?" Mario asked as he and Goombella came up to look at the map. On it was a new picture of a castle with a silver star on it to the east of Rougeport.

"Yes," Frankly answered. "The area is a vast meadow that lies far to the east of Rougeport. (Hey! Didn't I just say that?) To tell you the truth, I always thought that place was a tad suspicious. The name Petal Meadows did come up from time to time in my research."

"Great," Goombella said with impatience. "So we'll go there. But does anyone know how to get there or what?"

"If my maps are correct," Frankly said looking over his book again, "Then there should be a pipe to Petal Meadows somewhere beneath the city. If you find it, you'll get there instantly. Pipe travel's efficient!"

Frankly closed his book before he noticed what was missing the entire time.

"Now wait a minute, where's Beast Boy? He should be hearing this!"

The three of them look around and about the room, but not even a speck of green was in sight. Then a loud rush of thuds sounded from the nearby room. They jetted to the door and threw it open to see a large pile of books with BB sticking out. But the weirdest thing of it was the fact that BB had a pitchfork and a kumquat in his hand.

"…Uh, I can explain."

* * *

BB sighed as he finally placed back the last book on the shelf. Apparently he was sticking his nose in Frankly's house since he was bored. He just pulled one book out from the shelf and the whole collection fell onto him. How the pitchfork and kumquat got there, he didn't know. (I'm not telling you!) He came back into the room where they explained things to him. Frankly then turned to Mario. 

"Say, by the way Mario, I'm curious. Where did you get that map anyway?"

"From-a Princess Peach."

"Really?" Frankly asked in confusion. "Her highness sent this to you Mario? This Princess Peach… she wouldn't happen to be a blonde with a crown and a pink dress would she?"

"Why yes," Mario replied in surprise. "That-a fits her perfectly! Why you ask?"

"So it IS her! Your princess came to see me the other day. She wanted to learn about the treasure. I told her about the Crystal Stars and my suspicions about Petal Meadows. It doesn't seem likely, but perhaps she tried to go to Petal Meadows on her own."

"Now hold on here a minute dudes!" BB spoke as he continued to sweep the wooden floor. "We have to remember, we're not alone in this race. That Lord Crump guy and his cronies are after the stars too. That is why they attacked Goombella in the first place."

"Yeah," Mario agreed. "But I can't-a imagine her getting mixed up with them."

"Then it's settled!" Frankly shouted as he handed the map back to Mario. "Off to Petal Meadows you three must go! If Princess Peach indeed went there, your first priority must be to catch up to her. Collecting the Crystal Stars is a means to an end; and that end is Princess Peach!"

"But professor," Goombella spoke, "aren't you coming?"

"No," replied the prof. "I'll stay in town and ask around about Princess Peach and that suspicious gang. Besides, I doubt a shriveled old Goomba like me could handle the trials of the road. Of course, if anything happens and you need some advice, come see me, OK?"

"You got it professor!" Goombella shouted happily. "Well Mario, Beast Boy, we're off!"

"But we can't-a go out now!" Mario protested as he pointed out the window. "It's-a far too late to go traveling!"

Indeed, it was late as the last rays of sunset were beginning to end.

"Hmm," Frankly agreed. "Very well then. You all can sleep here tonight and get going in the morning. I have a couple extra beds that you can use."

* * *

Later that night, the sleeping preparations were underway. The professor was to sleep in his bed, Mario was to sleep on the couch, Goombella was to sleep on the recliner and BB was content by sleeping as a dog by the fireplace. Soon BB was the only one left awake. He pulled out the communicator and tried to contact anyone else. But there were no returning signals. Their wireless coverage must not cover alternate realities. 

Meanwhile, someone else was traversing the sewers. Fred Fredburger had entered a new room, holding a piece of paper and reading it to himself out loud.

"Dear Admin Fred, your next assignment is one of … re-con-ni-scence… in a place known as Petal Meadows. You are to gather information for our increasing … su-spi-cions… that there might be another Crystal Star to obtain. You must go there at once and make a final report. Signed, Master Grodus. Yes!"

By now a huge squid-like being rose from the depths of nearby water. The beast, known as a Blooper, roared at the intruder that was Fred. Fred continued to be unfazed as he jumped from one flailing tentacle to the next until he arrived at a platform with a stone brick pipe. He went into the pipe just as the Blooper slammed into the pipe, knocking itself out cold for the next five weeks.

* * *

"AAAAHHHH!" BB screamed as he dodged a spear thrown by an odd figure with a bird-like beak. In the background, Mario and Goombella burst from Frankly's house just in time to dodge BB who just rolled into the wall beside them. 

"Beast Boy, what's going on?" Goombella asked.

"Well," BB began, "I saw that the next section was blocked off this morning and I wanted to know what was there so I came up only to be stopped by this guy here named Gus who said I couldn't go without paying a toll of ten coins and I thought I could fight the guy but now here I am getting my keister kicked!" he said in all one breath.

"Huh!" Gus laughed. "That hurt? You have no chance of beating me, trust me. So you'd better run. Yeah, if you don't, seriously, it'll be GAME OVER for you! You can choose to run at any time kid. Sometimes it's best to run."

"Well guess what Gus," BB called back. "I don't give up!" he cried as he leaped as a lion.

Gus quickly jumped out of the way, causing BB to run into a wall. Goombella then decided to headbonk Gus with his back turned. But Gus saw this coming and pointed his spear up causing Goombella to land helmet first on it. She leaped back to rub off the pain as Gus positioned his spear forward, charging towards Mario. Mario just stood his ground, as if to take the full hit. Just as the spear made contact, Mario spun to quick for the average eye to see. This caused the spear to spin around and strike Gus instead. Gus was sent back, straight into a ram BB's waiting horns. He threw him back to the gate, now defeated. He could only moan in pain as he got back up.

"CRUD! You dumb fanfiction authors ALWAYS pull this stuff! It's RIDICULOUS! You think violence solves everything, don't you? DON'T YOU?" And with that, Gus fled.

BB only blinked at the comment. "Fanfiction?" He was then grabbed by his collar.

"Come on Beat Boy," a slightly muffled Goombella spoke as she dragged him along with her mouth. "Let's go."

And with that, the trio went down the pipe into the sewers.

* * *

Date of Update: 6/18/2007


	3. Allies and Rivals

Teen Titans and the Thousand Year Door

Chapter 3

Allies and Rivals

* * *

_Now loading the save file from memory card A… Please don't remove the memory card or press the power or reset switch…_

_The save file has been loaded._

* * *

The sun shined brightly over a grassy and hilly meadow, the trees scattered about the area. In one part of the area, there was a stone pipe with a 'save point' nearby. Out of the stone pipe came the three figures of Mario, Goombella and Beast Boy. They each stepped out into the open air and breathed in.

"Well, here we are!" Goombella spoke happily. "The Petal Meadows where folks say a Crystal Star hides. Woo hoo! Here we go guys! The start of our adventure! This is completely awesome!"

"Ah, I have to say," Mario sighed as he breathed in the fresh air. "This place definitely seems calm and peaceful."

The three began walking, noticing the statues nearby. They looked like six boulders surrounding a stone pipe. Goombella looked closer at one of the boulders which had some kind of sun shaped hole in it. While she looked, BB's ears perked up. He quickly looked up into the sky and gasped.

"Get down!" he hissed as he tackled his new companions to the ground.

"Beast Boy, what are you doing?!" Goombella spat.

BB quickly covered her mouth with a 'shush!' and pointed to the sky. They all looked up and gasped. Overhead flew what seemed like a rather fat red dragon with a green underbelly and three purple hook shaped tails. Somehow it was flying with two little flapping purple wings like a bee as its roars echoed through the sky and it flew to a grey castle far away.

Goombella gaped as they finally got back up. "Totally incredible… I've never seen anything that humongous before," she gasped.

"Not to mention that it looked kinda frightening," Mario muttered. "Didn't Professor-a Frankly say that this place was peaceful?"

"Wow!" Goombella shouted. "Crazy! We just started and already there's intrigue!" She then noticed that BB was still standing and staring at the castle. "C'mon Beast Boy! Let's go!"

BB turned around and followed them. "No problems dudes!" he called as he ran to catch up. Nonetheless, something was on his mind. When he saw the dragon, it was obvious that it was holding something in its hind legs. What really got him worried though was that the person seemed to be a certain one of his friends. He clenched his hands in worry as he ran along.

The trio looked about as they arrived to a town. There quite a few houses all about and residents walking around. One of them noticed the three newcomers and waved as he came to them. He looked more or less like a turtle on its hind legs with green shoes. This creature is known as a Koopa.

"Welcome travelers!" he welcomed.

"Thank you," Mario thanked. "But uh… just from where are we being-a welcomed?"

"Where?" the koopa repeated. "Why, this is Petalburg! But then again it has been a long time since we've had visitors here. We're kid of remote. Yeppity, once that dragon Hooktail was spotted flying around this area… well; it didn't help tourism or property values let's just put it that way. People just stopped visiting."

"Dragon? Hooktail?" Goombella pieced. "That must've been that huge thing we saw earlier!"

"Oh, so the monster's name is Hooktail?" BB said with a laugh. "Oooh! Scary name!"

"So anyway," Mario interrupted, "do you happen to know-a anything about these things known as Crystal Stars? We're on a search for them."

"Crystal Stars you say?" pondered the koopa. "Nope, can't say that I have. Sorry about that. You might want to speak with the mayor though. He's old. Really really old. As such, he knows all kinds of stuff we don't. Koopas of his age are… well… really smart. Anyway, the mayor lives in that pink house up ahead. You should go check it out."

BB stared. "… A pink house?"

"Sounds totally hideous," Goombella agreed, "but at least it should be easy to find. Thanks for your help!"

"Not a problem!" the koopa called as the trio left.

"The best part is that it's not even-a too far away!" Mario said happily as he pointed out the pink house just a little more than a stone's throw away.

"Well then let's go!" Goombella said happily.

That's of course until someone cut them off. From nowhere came what looked like some kind of blue… uh… okay, I don't know what he is! Probably for the better since the man had on a white polyester suit like Elvis, wore a neon pink afro, and large yellow shades. And to top it all off, his gaze was on Goombella.

"Ah, bonjour mademoiselle. Eet eez a beautiful day, no?" he asked with an obviously fake French accent. "I must say, you are a lovely leetle cabbage, so why do you stay with these unattractive men? What do you say my pretty? Abandon zees dullards and come away with moi!"

Everyone, please take this moment with me to pause and twitch our eyes in annoyance of this sad, sad little man.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Thank you. Now for Goombella's obvious response.

"EW! Are you kidding? EW! Nice wig you disco wannabe! Take a hike Bozo the dork!"

"Oh, oh, oh! Sacre bleu! Such brutal 'onesty! Such a sharp tongue!" the man, whom we must unfortunately know as Dupree, cried. "Well, I retreat for now. If you change your mind, cheri, come find me!"

"What a total sleaze!" Goombella shouted and ran off. "Let's go somewhere else guys!"

Mario and BB can only glance at each other before jetting off after her. Grunting in anger, Goombella went up the steps onto the porch of the pink house.

"Come on guys, let's ask the mayor now," she called as the other two caught up. They took a breath in preparation and opened the door.

"Hmph? Whuzzat? Someone there? Who is it? WHO?! What do you want from me?" The trio calmly, but jarred, entered and looked at the elder. He was an elderly green koopa with brown shoes, a cane, a scraggly beard that might've been owned by Rip Van Winkle, and just as bushy eyebrows that masked his eyes. Ladies and gentlemen, Mayor Kroop. "I know! You're thieves! Here to rob a defenseless old koopa! Despicable!"

Mario and Goombella jumped back in fright as the former shook his head and rapidly repeated 'NO!'. Beast Boy however just looked at the audience and held up the classic sign of a screw next to a baseball.

"Go on, do what you will, but as you can plainly see there's nothing to steal here. Oh, I guess I have a little money… Take it you fiends and my antique shell too. Just leave the photos of me and the missus. Can't do without those memories," Kroop rambled.

"Uh no, we're not-a thieves…" Mario assured.

"What? Not thieves you say?" Kroop asked with a peaked eyebrow. "Well what's your story then? Wait, you folks aren't looking for the Crystal Stars, are you?"

Surprised looks all around! "How'd you know?" BB asked.

"Hmph. That would be the only reason anyone would come here anymore," Kroop explained. "Now listen. These Crystal Stars that you're hunting……… what did I hear about those dang things again?"

**ANIME FACEFALL!**

"Aha! Got it! Hooktail! Hooktail's got what you're looking for!" the mayor picked up. "It's this enormous, ornery, dragon. Eats folks they say. You know Hooktail, right? Well this Hooktail's brutal fly-by snackings have all of us on pins and needles. So, are you all reckless fools? Imeanareyougallantheroesofftoroughitup?"

The trio exchanged nervous looks before nodding to the senile senior.

"Oh, well this DOES sound promising!" Kroop said with a smile. "Why, if you can rid us of Hooktail, we'll shower you with gratitude and rewards." Golden dollar signs appeared on Goombella and BB's smiling faces. Suddenly Kroop's ears perked up. "Wait, what's that I hear? You'll accept no reward?"

"Well actually-" the two began until Mario slapped his gloves over their mouths. "No, no. of course we'll-a not!"

"Why, what an unselfish group of youngins!" Kroop gasped in delight. "You all are noble indeed. Say, what were your names again?"

"My name is-a Mario." "I am Goombella." "Beast Boy, hero extraordinaire!"

"………Alrighty then. Anyway, if you're intent on going to Hooktail's castle, find the secret pipe near this village. I don't know where it's at, but I know you need stone keys to use that pipe. The keys are somewhere in Shwonk Fortress, just past the village. Get them first. Now get going and take care of that Hooktail monster!"

A moment of silence reigned until BB spoke back up. "Soooooooooooooooooo… is that all?"

"Yep. That's all. Now leave me alone," Kroop dismissed.

All during this conversation, another figure was listening from a nearby open window. The figure was another koopa, except he was wearing a blue hoodie, blue shorts, white shoes, and had a white bandage on the bridge of his nose. He fiddled with his hands in a form of fear as he watched the gang begin to leave. He took in a sigh before shouting to them.

"Excuse me! I, I beg your pardon! Wait a moment, PLEASE!!" he hobbled up to them, all three wearing curious faces. "Pardon me for yelling like that. I was panicking. Umm… how to begin? M-my name's Koops…"

"Pleasure to meet you Koops!" BB greeted shaking Koops's hands. "My name's Beast Boy. This is Mario and Goombella. How can we help you?"

"Well, I heard you all are traveling to Hooktail's Castle."

"How'd you hear about that?" Goombella asked with a dead eye.

"Uh, well, you see, word travels fast in a small town like this!" Koops spoke quickly. "So, anyway, I… uh… I have a favor to ask. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... Well… umm… oh just… Just forget it. Never mind. Ignore me. Good, good bye."

And with that, he ran off with his head slightly down into a brown brick house. The trio blinked for a moment until Goombella finally spoke. "Ok…… That was weird. What do you think that was all about? Talk about issues."

BB looked on for a bit before speaking. "Hey guys, why don't you two go on ahead?"

"What are you-a gonna do?" Mario asked.

"Well that Koops kid did say that he wanted some kind of favor," BB said with a shrug. "I'm just going to find out what it is. Besides, you two have shown that you could do well on your own."

"Well, I'm okay with this. How about you Mario?" Goombella decided.

"Okay. But if we need to call-a you, how do we-a do it?"

BB thought for a moment before he pulled out his communicator. "Depends. Do you guys have anything to use? I can give you my communicator signal thingie."

"Not a problem!" Mario said as he pulled out a device that looked suspiciously like a Nintendo DS system. "This thing has-a microphone that we can use. Now, let me take a look here…"

A moment later Mario tossed back the communicator and tipped his hat in a farewell before taking off. Goombella smiled with a nod before following, leaving BB to his own. He walked to the house he saw Koops run into and saw someone nearby. It was a girl koopa with blonde hair into a ponytail and a violet headband. She looked concerned as she stared at the house.

"Excuse me," BB asked as he tapped her shoulder. "But, do you know who lives there?"

The girl looked surprised for a minute before nodding. "Yes. His name is Koops."

"So, do you know what connection he has with Hooktail?" he wondered.

"Well… yes…" she answered sadly. "You see, a few years ago Koops's father went off to fight Hooktail. He hasn't come back. And that's not good with Koops how he is already. You see Koops is just sort of… well… wishy-washy. He's not quite timid but, well, I guess I just wish he would be more, you know, manly sometimes. Oh Koops, why did I have to fall for someone like him?" She had whispered the last part to herself, though BB heard it loud and clear to his surprise. Apparently it showed as the girl donned a shocked face. "Wait, was that out loud? Don't you dare tell him I said I've fallen for him! Please! I beg of you!"

It was at this point of course that she was shaking the green changeling in a panic.

"DUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUDE! I won't tell!"

"Oh thank heavens," she sighed with relief as she stopped. She then noticed that pretty much everyone was staring at her and her outburst. She let go of BB and began to wave off the looks. "Nothing to see here guys! Move on!"

"So, what's your name anyway?" BB asked as he rubbed his dizzying head.

"Oh, my name is Koopie Koo. And yours?"

"My name is Beast Boy. And thanks for the help."

BB walked away with a smile to Koops's house, Koopie Koo looking at him with a smile of her own. _'I don't know how,' _she thought, _'but I think he'll change Koops for the better. Then again, humans aren't exactly normal around here, green or otherwise…'_

BB walked steadily, planning in his head what he would say. After all, if one is to ask of private matters then one must be careful with the approach. He reached Koops's door before sighing and then knocked. The door opened to show Koops's startled face.

"Uh, listen, if you're going to ask about my outburst just now, I'm sorry. J-just ignore me. Good bye," he said as he closed the door, a clicking sound telling that it was locked.

BB stood stunned for a minute before smiling a mischievous grin. He then pulled out a small jar of black face paint. He dabbed his fingers in it, streaking two black lines on each of his cheeks like a thief.

(Insert "Mission Impossible' theme…)

**Attempt 1: pick the lock…**

BB was crouching low beneath the window of Koops's house, now dressed like a spy or a thief. He crawled to the door and looked at the doorknob. He slipped his hand into his black hat for a bit until it came out with a bobby pin. Slowly he inserted the pin inside the lock, digging around like he saw on TV. Granted, he didn't know what the heck he was doing. That made little difference however when he heard the lock click and he calmly opened the door. He crept in, looking around to keep his cover. He apparently didn't see the frying pan swing into his face and shoving him out the door.

**Attempt 2: windows…**

BB was at the side of the house, once again crouching beneath the window. He looked into the house for a moment and didn't see anyone. He held up his right hand, now transformed into a cat's paw. His pointer claw slipped out, and he began to quietly cut through the glass. He finished making a circle and slowly slid the piece out. He then reached through the hole and unlocked the window. He lifted it up, just in time to come face to face with Koops. The koopa held a soda. He shook it up and then sprayed it into BB's face. As the hero fell back screaming trying to clean his eyes, Koops began to block the window with wood boards.

**Attempt 3: chimney…**

BB climbed dramatically onto the roof with suction cups. He then hoisted himself onto the chimney top. Fitting himself carefully, he slid down like Santa Claus. Soon however he began to feel heat and looked down enough to see the flickering flames. He yelled in a panic as he tried to climb back up. In the end however he landed in the fire and got out of the chimney. He was screaming and on fire. He ran around in a panic until finally he ran out through the open door that Koops held open. Take note of the fact that this whole thing happened without anything else catching on fire. The koopa slammed the door as BB began to roll on the ground, putting the fire out. He panted in a panic before dropping in a faint.

**Attempt 4: superpowers!**

BB was once again at the door, stretching in preparation. Doing a few squats and leg stretches, he then got into a battle stance. He then seemed to disappear as he turned into a fly. Quickly he flew about the house until he found the air vent. Flying in quietly, he flew against the air flow until he came through another vent into the living room. He landed on the windowsill to catch his breath when suddenly he felt a great pain. BB had turned back to human and landed on the floor in a daze while Koops frowned before him, holding a flyswatter. He then hoisted BB like a bartender would and tossed him out the front door.

**Mission status: failed…**

At this point, BB's patience was used up. He stomped straight up to the door and knocked rudely. "Alright… Koops, right? Now listen, earlier today you wanted to talk to me, Mario and Goombella. But then you chickened out and now you're trying to hide from me. Now listen, Koopie Koo told me about your story. So believe me when I say that if you really had a favor about Hooktail, then me and the others would be glad to help you! But we won't know how if you don't ask us. Keep that in mind."

With that, BB walked away with his anger on his face. In the house, Koops was sitting on one of his chairs, his gloomy face hung down as he mulled over the message. Back outside, BB sat down on a grassy step with a pout. There was really nothing left to do but to wait. Suddenly his communicator went off. In shock and hope of it being one of the Titans, the message began with Goombella's panicked voice crackling occasionally through the static.

"Beast Bo-zzzzzz zzzzzzz-eing attacked! Three freaks ambush-zzzzzzz. Come to Shwonk Fortress and bring some zzzzzzzzzz-cks!"

BB's eyes widened in horror before taking off. He transformed into a cheetah and ran like a bullet through the town gate.

* * *

A beautiful monarch butterfly happily flapped its wings in the calm if not stale air. Gracefully it flied, enjoying the freedom that it was born with. Calmly it landed on a beautiful daisy. At least until a green cheetah paw raced by and crushed it into oblivion. As of now readers, that will probably be the most angst you'll find in this story. BB raced through the vast fields, paying no attention to the red shelled koopa troopas that watched in surprise of the speedy beast.

Up ahead, there was a small room with open gates and two face-like rocks with feet that were stretching.

"So Phil, what are you going to do on your vacation?" one cleft said to the other.

"Well I plan on taking the kids out to my sister's summer home. Maybe do a bit of camping. They've been complaining of having nothing to do…"

In that instant, BB sped by before the gate traps could even close. The two clefts looked on in shock.

"What the heck was that Phil?"

"Maybe it's best that we didn't know…"

Even further ahead was another room which was exactly the same, except the creatures were two mace balls with empty eyes and faces. They were playing a card game with no other than Fred Fredburger.

"So you see," Fred was chatting, "I have to make a report on this dragon guy, and I'll be rewarded with more nachos!"

"Well that's not too bad a deal Fred," one bristle said as he picked up two cards for his poker hand. "But don't you think you should get paid with actual money so that you could buy even more nachos?"

"Because no one can get a better deal than what I have right here!" the second said as he laid down his hand. "Gin rummy baby!"

The first was confused. "I thought we were playing poker?"

"I thought we were playing go fish," Fred spoke.

There was a moment of silence between the three until BB sped through like in the first room. Silence continued to reign until Fred laid down his hand.

"Well, it was great! Same time next month! Yes!"

Meanwhile with Beast Boy, he skidded into a stop as he arrived at a third building. The only thing was that the room had no other entry ways and the only thing inside was a statue of a large faced black with spikes on the edges called a thwomp.

"Well now what do I do?" BB shouted at the dead end. Suddenly a rumble shook and the statue opened its eyes!

"Heh ha! Well what do you know? Three sets of contestants in one day! Business is booming! If you've come all the way here to Shwonk Fortress, you also must want the stone keys. And if that's the case, then you must compete against me. If you win, I'll let you though to where the stone keys rest. However, if you lose, you will suffer a terrible fate. And by terrible, I mean awful. So? What do you want to do?"

BB just smiled and puffed out his chest. "Dude, superheroes like me can take on anyone in any challenge! You're on!"

The bust smiled. "All right! You're in for it now!"

And just like, the statue and BB disappeared like falling puzzle pieces. Nothing happened in the room except for a few minutes later. They both came back; the statue was angry, and BB was now wearing a 'Jeopardy' hat, a 'Wheel of Fortune' foam finger, and wore an 'I survived a Japanese game show and all I have to show is this stupid t-shirt?' t-shirt.

"SO, VERY, ANGRY!" the statue yelled. "I can't believe I lost a third time! I guess I have let you through too. Stupid rules."

The statue moved back a good distance to reveal a pipe. The statue 'hmph!'-ed in arrogance before closing its eyes and resting once more. BB took off the game show junk he got and stepped onto the pipe. _'Mario, Goombella, hang in there…'_ he thought as he went down the pipe.

When BB reached the end, he took notice of two things. One, it was dark. Two, it was wet. BB only grimaced as he shoes soaked. He sighed before running off through the caverns, looking for his companions. He soon heard a sickening noise that sounded suspiciously like an upset cat. He looked behind him to see black fuzzballs with two eyes each and a freaky mouth. BB only blinked before taking off screaming.

BB came to a stop in a different room, panting from exhaustion. He then took a look around and noticed he wasn't alone.

"Goombella!" he shouted as he came to the dizzy girl. "Dude, what happened here?"

"Well, me and Mario came down here when suddenly these three robot freaks attacked us!" Goombella muttered as she got back up on her feet. "Apparently they wanted the stone keys for some other reason and we didn't want to give them up. I still got this moon one, and I know Mario got away with the sun one. We have to go and save him!"

"Alright, just hang on!" BB yelled before turning into a wolf. Goombella went grabbed onto him via mouth on tail, and they went off.

A few minutes later the two came into the opposite end of the caverns to see Mario cornered by three figures that were hidden in the darkness.

"Now listen carefully," the middle and supposedly leader spoke to Mario. "We just need to borrow the stones for a moment. It's imperative to the existence of all existence that we do so. And this means we won't be afraid to end a few lives to do so. Now hand over the keys!"

"You want them? Then you'll have to work for it!" Goombella shouted. The figures were shocked and turned to face the newcomers only for them to speed by for Mario to catch hold. The trio then made their way back to the entrance.

As they came back to the pipe, BB stopped to catch his breath in human form. "Just who were those guys anyway?"

"It doesn't matter now mon!" a Jamaican accent rang. They turned in surprise to see the opposing trio, now fully visible.

The first figure was of medium height, completely black-grey metal, had two horns on the head, a special metal jaw, had one large red glowing visor for an eyes, had a red 'R' on his waist, and bore on his chest the face of a green head with yellow pincers and one closed eye.

The second was very tall, very bulky body structure with brown and light brown color settings, had cord like limbs that connected to large cylindrical hand braces and feet, had a dome-helmet like head that only showed his red eyes, had a yellow 'O' on his lower torso, and also had the green head on his chest.

The third was a little bit shorter, and seemed to have no head. His shades light blue along with his boots made it seem like he was wearing jumpsuit. On the upper torso was a circle that suggested some kind of cannon cover marked in thirds, had box like braces on his hands with double gun barrels on the top, each pair connected to a tube that connected with a pack on his back. A third tube came from the top and into the top of the torso where the neck could've been. Finally, he also had the green head on his torso.

"Just who are-a you three anyway?" Mario asked.

"Our names are of no importance to anyone in this world," the black one began until the blue one interrupted.

"Oh come on now mon! What's the point of doing our job without havin' a little fun mon?" He then waved with a flourish at his opponents. "The black one's Ravage, the big guy here is Oblivion, and I'm Yaman mon! And together, we are the Robo-Warriors mon!"

"Well it doesn't matter!" Goombella sassed. "We need the stone keys, and we're not leaving without them!"

"That's because you all aren't leaving at all!" a new shrill voice spoke. The six looked in confusion to the side where they saw a gaudy yellow furball bouncing. "You hear me you suspicious types? This is our place, and coming here is rude, rude, RUDE! Sorry suckers! If you want a warm welcome, too bad! Now I lunch on all of your heads!"

The six looked at each other with disbelief before getting into battle stances. BB became a jaguar, Goombella was leafing through her book for info, Mario readied his hammer, Ravage's fingers became razors with a flick, Oblivion drew his hands back into the cuffs, and Yaman readied his guns. The beast ran forward with a yowl, only to swiped by BB, knocked away by Mario, slashed at by Ravage, was knocked away by Oblivion's swinging arms, and finally blasted by Yaman.

"Ow!" the beast shouted as he got back up. "You chumps are tougher than you look. But I'm not through yet! Everyone! GET THEM!"

Just like that, at least 100 more of the black furs came out of nowhere and formed a mob scene protecting their leader.

"What the heck are these things anyway?" BB wondered.

"Aha! Here it is!" Goombella shouted. "According to my book, their fuzzies. The gold one must be their leader."

"Forget this!" Ravage shouted. "We don't have the time, nor do I have the patience for these pests! Yaman, use the adrenaline cannon!"

"Roger that Ravage mon!" Yaman replied. He then got down on one as a pulsing sound could be heard. Energy could be seen going from the pack through the top tube as the face circle opened up, already glowing with blue energy. Then, a large bright blue beam shot through the crowd, scattering the fuzzies. As the energy faded away, the black fuzzies looked in shock at their leader who was now against the wall knocked out. They looked at the group before shouting and running away deeper in the caverns.

"Well, that was actually pretty easy…" BB mumbled now back in his human form.

"Yes, now listen!" Ravage shouted. "You want to keep the stone keys? No problem. But we just need one moment to use them so that we may summon what we came here for. Simple, right?"

"………How can we trust you?" Goombella challenged. "After all you ambushed us, attacked us, and threatened to kill us!"

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease mon?" Yaman begged, apparently trying to make puppy dog eyes.

"………I say let them do it," BB decided.

"What? Why?" Goombella shouted.

BB shrugged. "Animal instinct."

"………Alrighty then." Mario agreed while puling out a red stone with a yellow spiked ring to look like the sun while Goombella pulled out a yellow stone shaped like a crescent moon.

Ravage took them both and held them to his teammates who covered them with their own hands. A moment passed when the two stones began to shine. They both raised slowly, the moon stone circling the sun one like the real moon does. It went through two cycles of orbit and with one final bright flash, they fell back down with a small rolled up square of parchment joining them.

Ravage took the stones and tossed them back to our heroes and tucked the note away to who knows where. "Because you let us claim our bounty just now, we'll leave you without a fuss. But be warned! Should you ever get in the way of our goals again, we will not hesitate to kill you." And with that, the three went back up the pipe.

The three heroes looked on for a moment while thinking back on today's events. "So, what do we do now?" BB finally asked.

"What else?" Goombella huffed. "We get back to Petalburg and then off to Hooktail and the Crystal Star!"

"Ah, but we can't-a do it today…" Mario sighed as he looked at the time on his DS like device. "It is far-a too late to do-a anything. We'll have to-a rest in Petalburg before we go on."

"Well then? Back to Petalburg!" BB said he dragged the two back up the pipe.

* * *

Meanwhile back in Petalburg, Koops was sitting in his darkened house, holding a picture frame. In the picture was an elder koopa with a blue shell, bushy eyebrows, and a small scruff of a beard. Koops sighed as he trailed his fingers over the image.

"Dad… what do I do?"

* * *

Elsewhere still, the Robo-Warriors returned to the temple-like lair where the one eyed being was in meditation. The three kneeled in respect at the figure.

"Master Parsnep," Ravage greeted, "the mission was a success. The prophecy piece was retrieved with little problems."

"The standard monsters of the land?" Parsnep assumed.

"Partly," Ravage replied. "There were three others who had arrived to the fortress, also desiring the stone keys. We were almost forced to end them, but in the end they gave us what we wanted in the end."

Parsnep's eye opened, one side of the top curved down in confusion. He then stood up to address them. He was considerably tall had green scaly skin, sharpened claws, and his face was like on his followers' chests. He wore a medallion around his neck, the medal encrypted with the image of a scroll with writing on it. He wore a large robe with a hood like a classic monk, and his single yellow eye bore its wise and piercing gaze.

"Listen well. If what I suspect is true, then that shall not be the last time that you meet them. When you do, challenge them to a fight. Defeat them with everything short of killing them. I want you to test their strength. In the meantime, prepare to go out for the next prophecy piece."

"Yes master (mon)." the three replied. "If I may ask, where is it?" Ravage spoke.

Parsnep conjured a cloud of mist, which cleared to show the image of a large black and white tree. "In the Boggy Woods of that world, it lies with a sacred treasure. You shan't go right now, but keep in mind that an army of dark intentions has already established a strong hold upon the area. When you do go there, discretion is the key. Until then, you all are dismissed."

"Yes master (mon)," they spoke before leaving. Once they were gone, Parsnep sighed. He held the prophecy in his hands, the second of eight pieces to go with the first. _'Dark times lie ahead. The darkness is rapidly approaching. And now we have unforeseen performers in this play? Time is running short for us all…'_

* * *

**Status…**

**Crystal Stars: 0/7**

**Prophecy pieces: 2/8**

**Titans: 0/7**

**Days total: 2**

**A/N: **Well, one year since my last update, and I give ya nothing. You may hate me now. But look on the bright side! Now I'm coming in with a lot more! Alias is officially back and better than ever. That…… and I've been getting more motivated with my Twisted Metal story. Oh well. Pictures of my OC's will be up much later on my DeviantArt account. They're not entirely perfected, but you'll have to settle for the way they are right now. Sorry!

**The Unknown Alias's status: signed out**

**Date of Update: 7/4/2008**

**Happy Independance Day America!**


	4. Castle and Dragon

Teen Titans and the Thousand Year Door

Chapter 4

Castle and Dragon

* * *

_Now loading the save file from memory card A… Do not touch the memory card in slot A or the power or reset button…_

_The save file has been loaded._

* * *

A new day dawns on our heroes, as now they have the keys to continue their quest. And so now, here on the edge of Petalburg, the trio has a few final preparations before going off to rescue the Crystal Star in distress of the evil dragon, Hooktail. Pokemon's announcer, eat your heart out.

"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" BB yawned. "It's a great morning to save a town!"

"Well somebody's chipper in the morning…" Goombella groaned behind him. "I didn't wake up this early since classes at U-Goom."

"Still, it's-a time to-a go!" Mario announced. "Now, a quick-a check. Sun stone?"

"Check," Goombella moaned as she used the said object to scratch her head.

"Moon-a stone?"

"Check!" BB answered with a pat on his pockets.

"Supplies?" Mario asked before digging into his pockets. "Check. Now, remember-a yesterday with that-a stone-a pipe? There were-a two other rocks, one with a sun shaped hole and another the moon. If we use-a the stones then it'll-a reveal the way to the castle, right?"

"Well then let's go!" BB shouted as he began to march.

"Ummm… excuse me!" a familiar voice ahead of them shouted.

"Oh boy, this guy again. Think he'll actually say what's on his mind this time?" Goombella wondered at the sight of the greeter.

There just before the bridge into town, was Koops. "It's… it's Beast Boy, right? Look, I ……… ummm… See, the thing is, I've thought about what you said the other day and I've been waiting here in the hope of getting to speak to you. I have to ask you guys something, and you can say no, but I'm going to throw it out there."

"Well? What is it?" Goombella asked impatiently.

"Well… see… I was wondering… would you…" Koops muttered before grabbing BB and shaking him like Koopie Koo did. "OH PLEASE TAKE ME WITH YOU TO FIGHT HOOKTAIL! PLEASE! I'M BEGGING YOU!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm-a down!" Mario shouted back as he forced Koops to let go.

"Are you okay Beast Boy?" Goombella asked.

"Oops! Wrong floor! Fersirnermerskin…" BB mumbled before falling to the ground.

"Uh, sorry about that Beast Boy," Koops apologized as he offered his hand to pull the changeling up.

"Well hey, no problem. But, why would you want to come with us?" Goombella asked.

"You mean Beast Boy didn't tell you?" Koops asked back. In the background we can see BB staggering about unnoticed.

"We didn't even-a know that he knew!" Mario spoke.

"Well, you see… my dad. He went off to battle Hooktail long ago. But he never came back," Koops spoke softly. In the background we can see BB falling into the river in his daze.

"So you're dad probably died, and you want revenge. Is that it?" Goombella asked.

"No," Koops sighed. "I miss him of course, I miss him badly. But this isn't just about avenging my dad. Well no, that's not true. Revenge is a part of it I guess. A big part. But the truth is, I want to finish what Dad started. For his sake. For everyone's sake!"

Once again in the background we see a now fully alert BB screaming as he jumps from the pool, a small carnivorous fish chomped firmly on his backside.

"Well that-a makes sense, but other than-a revenge, why-a do it? Killing-a Hooktail probably won't-a get-a your father-a back," Mario scolded.

"I… man this is embarrassing… see, everyone always says I'm a crybaby. A weakling. But if I can defeat Hooktail… well, I won't be those things. I'll be strong, like my dad. I know it'll be dangerous, but I still want to go! Please Beast Boy! ……… Beast Boy?" Koops looked around until he saw BB lying on the grass, drumming his fingers on the dirt.

"Believe me Koops, the answer is already yes, just get this thing off of my butt!" BB shouted.

"For real? No kidding? Yes! Thank you so much guys! You won't regret this!" Koops rejoiced as he forced the fish's jaw open and tossed back into the river. "OK Beast Boy, let's get moving!"

"Koops…" another voice called out.

Everybody turned to the town gate where a certain ponytailed girl koopa was standing, her worry clearly showing on her face. "Oh! Golly… um… Hi. Hi Koopie… Koopie Koo. Did you overhear al that?" Koops stammered.

"Well, part of it. Koops, I **thought** I heard you say you're off to fight Hooktail. But, you're joking, right? I mean, you're not exactly a powerhouse. He'll eat you up!"

"I know Koopie Koo," Koops said sadly. "But I want to be tougher. For you… So I have to do this."

"No Koops, you don't!" Koopie Koo protested, her eyes already starting to water. "I mean, going off to some dangerous place? It's… it's stupid. So what if you're timid? And sort of a crybaby. I don't care about all that. I just want you to be you. So, don't go…"

"Sorry Koopie Koo. I've made up my mind," he stood firm. "No need to worry though! After all, I'm traveling with Mario. And I've noticed what Beast Boy here could do. I'm in safe hands!"

Koopie Koo shook with anger as her tears flowed. "FINE! IGNORE ME! STUBBORN KOOPA!" she shouted when suddenly she slammed into all of them and once again on the rebound back into town.

"I'm sorry Koopie Koo…" Koops whispered. "I swear to you, I will come back to you a stronger koopa! Well Beast Boy, that's that I guess. No turning back! Hooktail's castle awaits!"

When he said that, the same blue screen popped up again to show 'Koops the Coward has joined your party!'

Goombella's eyes widened at the weird scene. "So that's what you guys saw."

* * *

Soon after the trio had arrived back at the stones. Getting straight to work, Mario went to the two stone with the holes, and filled then appropriately with the right stones. A rumbling sounded, and the two stones moved inward to show two blue switches with exclamation marks on them. Shortly after that, blue writing began to glow on the stone pipe.

BB leaned in to the writing, reading the inscription aloud. "Here beginneth the path to dread Hooktail Castle. Weaklings, retreateth! Ye who seeketh to proceed: a power of two must hitteth both switches simultaneously. Addendum: if ye are a Petalburg koopa, huzzah! Your hold ablility maketh this chore a snap!"

Everyone glanced at Koops who just simply smiled with closed eyes in pride as he walked to one of the switches. "Somebody kick my shell."

Mario did so, Koops now in his shell shot out and spinned in place. Mario smiled in realization as he went over to the other switch, his mallet at the ready. "GO!" he shouted. Just like that, Koops shot back hitting one switch, while Mario slammed his hammer down on the second. More rumbling occurred, when suddenly the stone pipe blew to pieces to reveal a regular green pipe.

"Alright! Now it's off to Hooktail's castle!" Goombella shouted as she went into the pipe. The others followed quickly, the area now deserted. It was at that point the Fred Fredburger came out of hiding in the bushes and went down the pipe with a 'Yes!'

* * *

The quartet looked on in wonder at the large grey brick building that towered before them. The castle was in fact as ominous as the tales say.

"Oh man… Hooktail Castle," Koops shuddered in fright. "The stories were all true. This place is ominous…"

……… Hey! Didn't I just narrate that? Anyway, the four entered the castle, already feeling the dread. The corridors were dark and the dull bones of passed away koopas were strewed about the place.

"Well, can't say that I like the bone pile décor…" Goombella muttered.

They continued through the castle until arriving at an empty hallway (except for the bones of course…). They looked around, keeping a watch for enemies until Koops stopped in shock.

"Oh, oh no!" he gasped as he ran over to a skeleton with blue shoes and a blue shell. "These bones, they remind me of my father. There's… there's no doubt about it! It's my father! DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!"

* * *

Over in Petalburg, Mayor Kroop's ears perked up. "Hmm… odd. Sounded like Koops."

* * *

The rest bowed their heads in silence for a moment, until Koops noticed something. "Wait, what's this? Beast Boy! My father's clutching some kind of letter. Or at least his… ugh… bones are. Do you mind reading it for me?"

BB nodded as Koops picked the paper from the pile and handed it to his friend before hugging the bones.

BB cleared his throat before reading aloud. "I came to this castle to destroy Hooktail, but I am stuck and can go no further. So in this letter, I shall note Hooktail's weaknesses for those who follow. The dread Hooktail cannot tolerate creatures that begin with 'cr' and end with 'icket'. Hidden somewhere in this castle is an item related to Hooktail's weakness. If one is to have any hope of defeating Hooktail, one must first find that item. One last thing: if faced with ultimate doom, the fiend will use any trick to save itself. If you hope to defeat it, do not give in to your kinder nature and fall for its tricks. Alas, I do not have the strength to continue writing. Already mist veils my eyes." It was at this point that BB's face went slack in disbelief. "Uh, Koops? You can stop hugging the skeleton now."

"Why?" Koops asked with worry at the stopping.

"Listen to this last part," BB continued. "My last words go to my son Kolorado: I love you and I'm proud of who you've become."

The results were varied. Goombella's became like BB's was. Mario scratched his chin as he looked up in remembrance of someone he met before named Kolorado. Koops's face however became one of shock. "But, if this isn't my father… then who have I been hugging…?" His eyes then dilated as he shot back up and ran around with a scream, desperately wiping off his jacket in disgust.

"Well, he wasn't Koops's dad, but at least he gave us some valuable info, right?" BB said as he continued. "Now let's get going."

"Problem Beastie," Goombella said as she pointed to the door (with her feet?). "We'll have to move that skeleton first."

Suddenly said skeleton (which was completely red by the way with blue eyes,) began to shake. "Blaarf harf harf HARF! You clearly don't value your lives much if you've come to this castle to disturb us. You will go no farther, and from this moment on, you'll be nothing but bones!"

At once the skeleton leaped up as hundreds of regular skeletons dropped from nowhere, forming a major mob and attacking the heroes.

"What's with these guys?" BB shouted before turning into a lion and swiping at the undead.

"Dawn of the dead!" Goombella shouted as she began to headbonk any that she could.

Bones flew apart only to be replaced by more as Mario swung them away with his hammer. Koops used special energy as he began to ricochet around the room, knocking them all away. "There's-a too many of them!" Mario shouted.

"Then take out the leader!" BB shouted, "The rest will fall after!"

Suddenly the door opened and everyone stopped to glare at the intruder. Noticing that it was a bad time, Fred simply drew his head back out and closed the door. Mario then got an idea and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a red block with the colored word 'POW' on it, and slammed it into the floor. A strong tremor erupted through the floor, dealing damage to all of the bones. They all collapsed, leaving only the red leader standing.

"Oh boy," the red bones sighed as the heroes all pounced on him with attacks. The bones collapsed to the floor and the door opened. The heroes sighed in relief as they moved on. And of course, on the other side the door opened with Fred peeking his head back in. "Is it safe to come in now?"

* * *

"Man, this place is just one big maze, isn't it?" BB moaned.

"Don'tlookdown, don'tlookdown, don'tlookdown, don'tlookdown!" Goombella chanted as she followed BB's lead.

Let me explain, this castle has so many tricks and hidden keys designed to wear the voyagers out. To help this there was a gap in a corridor bridge that could only be crossed by shimmying the window ledge outside.

"Come on-s guys," Mario encouraged. "We are almost-a there."

Koops in the meantime just had his head in his shell which was rattling violently. _'Better than the falling spikes, better than the falling spikes…'_

"Okay guys, we're there!" BB announced as he jumped back inside through the window. One by one the rest of the party came through, steeling their nerves again.

Soon they entered a new room, filled with many chests and supplies. But what really caught the group's attention was someone else in the room. The person was a white mouse with bright red shoes, a matching mask, and her tail curved into a heart.

Said mouse looked at the newcomers with surprise. "Huh? Oh my! Who's this handsome piece of cheese? I can't believe there are other thieves here besides me. How very strange…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" BB huffed. "We are no thieves! But who are you?"

"Me? Why, I'm Ms. Mowz, the globe-trotting thief! Heard of me sweeties? I heard there were rare and valuable badges here in this castle. That's why I'm here. But the real question is why are people like you roaming in such a run-down place?"

"I'll tell you why Miss Ugly-pink-shoe-whatever-thief!" Goombella shouted. Apparently something about the mouse ticked her off. "We're here to beat Hooktail! And just so we're clear on this, we set our sights on the Crystal Star before you! OK?"

"Crystal Star you say?" the thief said with interest and a twinkle in her eye. "Hmmm hmm hmmmmm! I didn't know a thing like that was hidden in this castle… sounds intriguing! Perhaps I just heard something you didn't want me hearing?"

Everyone glared at Goombella, who now was sporting a large blush while muttering 'Shoot!'

"Oh but that's ok, I mean you were looking for this Crystal Star first, and I already found the badge I was after, so I'll let you get your Crystal Star."

"Well-a thanks! But, what-a do you-a mean by that?" Mario asked cautiously.

Ms. Mowz smiled as she came up to the stached man and smooched him blatantly on the kisser. "It means I must say bye-bye for now Mr. Cutie! I know, it's sad. We just met, and already it is time to say farewell. Alas…"

The group was already in shock of the smooch as the thief leaped up to a nearby window. That is until Koops muttered "Wow… how bold!"

Koops then muttered 'OW!' from BB nudging him painfully. "You're already spoken for Romeo!"

"I am?" Koops asked in confusion.

"Oh, I almost forgot, I have a little secret to share with you. Somewhere in this castle is a badge that'll help you best Hooktail, or so I've heard. I don't know what kind of badge it is. Maybe you found it already, maybe not. If you're going to fight Hooktail, I'd recommend finding that badge first. Well, take care handsome mustache man! Let's get together again real soon!" and with that, she leaped out of sight. Though you could've heard a faint '…ow…' from below.

"What is with that girl? What a flirt!" Goombella huffed. "Who acts so disgusting like that?"

"Maybe, but still I wouldn't mind hearing her story…" Koops muttered. "It'd probably be filled with adventure and romance…"

"Yeah, but-a now we got-a something else-a to do," Mario spoke as we wiped his lips of the mouse's lipstick. "She said that-a badge could a-help, and the-a letter said that there was an item that-a has-a Hooktail's weakness. They must-a be-a the same-a thing!"

"Well then I think that we already got it," BB said as he pulled out a badge from his pocket. It was a red circle with a white music note on it. "I found it while we were searching for keys. When I used it the only thing that would come out of my mouth was cricket noises."

"Well then we have all that we-a need!" Mario said as he pulled another castle key from the remaining storage. "Now let's-a go! Hooktail is a-waiting for us!"

* * *

"Well… there it is," Koops muttered. They were at a long bridge that led to the highest tower in the castle. On top was a large chamber, the windows showing the red scaly skin of their foe.

"There's-a no turning back now," Mario said gravely. "Let's go. But take our time as well."

It was at that point of course a new sound erupted from the tower. It was a sound that shot through BB's mind with familiarity and confirmed a hanging dread that appeared yesterday. It was a scream. "STARFIRE!" he shouted. In a panic he turned into a cheetah and ran up the path.

"Beast Boy!" Goombella shouted as they all gave chase. "Wait up, will ya?"

At the top, BB was panting next to the large door as his party caught up with him.

"What was that all about?" Goombella gasped. "I know we just heard some girl scream but then you just jetted off! What's the deal?"

"That's my friend that screamed!" BB shouted. "She right there behind the doors right now! Mario, I can already turn into a cricket. So you take the badge."

Mario nodded as BB tossed him the badge. They all then marched through that door. Fred then came up following the group and entered along with them.

The group had entered the room and they all stopped in fright. There the beast was, the room barely big enough for it, and looking just as horrid as they day before. "Wow!" Fred sputtered. "That thing is HUGE yes!"

Everybody at that moment looked in confusion at the little green elephant thing. "Where'd you come from?" BB asked.

"Who dares approach me?" Hooktail roared in a surprisingly feminine voice. "So… you are friends of the strange-garbed one I just ate?"

"You ate Starfire?!" BB shouted angrily at the beast.

"Starfire was it?" Hooktail mulled. "A fitting name I must say. She did have an odd spice to her skin. I didn't expect more to come to steal the treasure I protect however. Such rashness… That was foolish I fear. Do you really think you can beat me? But you're so small. And you don't appear tasty. I suppose you might make a good snack though. And bottoms of your feet smell like they might make a good sauce with some spices. What I'll do is sauté you to crispy goodness and gobble you down, HEADFIRST!"

Just like that, the area around them flashed and everything changed. Everyone except Mario looked around in awe. It seemed that they were on a stage now complete with an audience of toads, goombas, and even Fred Fredburger who now was munching some nachos.

"What the heck is all of this?" Goombella asked.

"Just-a roll with it," Mario advised.

"Snack time little appetizers!" Hooktail roared. "But which one of you morsels should I taste first?"

"Taste-a my foot!" Mario shouted as he leaped up and stomped on Hooktail's nose twice. And the badge was definitely at work for each time Mario stomped, a cricket noise sounded.

Immediately Hooktail moaned and her eyelids drooped in sickness. "Bleck! That awful sound! It sounds like a cricket! How did you know? Stop that this instant!"

"Goombella! Go!" Mario shouted as he tossed her the badge. She slapped it on her helmet and headbonked the beast.

"Urp…" Hooktail gagged, trying not to throw up. "I got really bad, ugh, food poisoning once when I ate a cricket. I hate them! Oh… fight it Hooky. Just hearing a cricket chirp makes me feel woozy!"

"See, this is why I'm a vegetarian!" BB commented before turning into a lion and swiping at the dragon.

"For my father!" Koops shouted as he launched himself straight into the beast, wearing the badge and releasing another cricket chirp.

"Ooooog… must… not… gag… My poor tummy… uuuuurp. So very woozy…" Hooktail moaned before releasing a fire breath attack.

The gang dodged out of the way as they continued the onslaught. On the side the audience cheered with each successful move as the battle went on. Soon however, Hooktail had enough.

"That does it!" she shouted before swiping at Mario. He guarded and with Hooktail so weakened, she didn't do any damage. However her claw did catch the badge, flinging it out the window. However that left her unguarded, allowing BB in hawk form to claw at her eyes.

"Her health is down guys!" Goombella cheered as she checked up on the beast in her book. "She's already beat!"

"W-wait! Hold up a moment!" Hooktail called, her claws up in some kind of mercy call. "I give up! Please! I won't be so bad anymore. I promise! In fact, I'm sorry! For everything! …yeah… to prove it I'll give you 1000 coins! What do you say? Can you forgive me?"

"My father gave his life to stop you!" Koops shouted. "I will not betray him now! Keep your coins you fiend!"

"What?" Hooktail gasped. "You must be joking! You don't need any coins? Then how about the lovely, rare, extra special badge I have? I'll give you that. It's one of a kind! And it's yours for a limited time only! Will you take it?"

"Are you kidding me?" BB shouted. "You just ate my friend! And I will get her out of you! Keep it you cad!... Why did I just say cad?"

"Err… really?" Hooktail said panicked. "Well I suppose I could apologize by letting you smell the bottoms of my feet. People pay good money to do this. I'm being completely honest right now. Really! So? Care to take a wiff of the rich, yet delicate scent of my world-renowned feet?"

"Oh my gosh!" Goombella moaned in disgust. "That dead guy was right! This girl would do anything to save herself! That's disgusting!"

"Hrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmm… you aren't a very trusting group, are you? It's important to trust someone you know. Err… I guess I'd better…" Just like that, Hooktail leapt from the stage and into the crowd eating at least a quarter of the audience. The rest of the audience, except for one, ran away in shock and fear.

"Oh my gosh, that's just not right!" Koops shouted.

"Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho! Ahhh! Now my strength has returned to me!" Hooktail shouted, her queasiness long since gone.

"As if the people of Petalburg wasn't enough!" Koops growled in a rage. "I've had enough of this! Let's finish this girl off fast Beast Boy!"

"Right!" BB growled as well, at least until he noticed the only person remaining. He and the rest leaped down to the seats where Fred was kneeling on the ground, looking on in shock at the cheesy mess that lay before him. "Hey! Green elephant dude! You gotta get yourself out of here!"

"She… killed my nachos!" Fred gasped. He then turned to the beast in anger. "You killed my nachos!"

"Oh boo hoo!" Hooktail fake sobbed. She then roared, releasing a fire breath attack on Fred. When the attack died down, Fred was charred black except for his butt that was on fire. He looked at his enflamed tush before running out the door screaming "Ow! My bottom! My bottom!"

"I can't believe it!" Goombella noticed. "She got all of her power back!"

"Yes, and now it's over!" she shouted as she swiped with her claws again, knocking Beast Boy out the window.

"Beast Boy!" Goombella shouted. She too glared at the dragon. "You'll pay for that!"

She began to charge at the dragon, but Mario held her back. "No! Don't-a do it Goombella! If her-a powers are back then we have to be-a careful!"

"Ah! But you can't do any damage to me anymore!" Hooktail chortled. "Now die-what?" she stopped and looked around. Soon the others could hear it too: a cricket was chirping. "Blurp! Why do I always have to feel so faint every time I hear a, urp, cricket?"

Mario looked in awe as Hooktail scratched away at her ears before he smiled and readied his hammer. "Guys! Now's our-a chance! Gooooooooooo!"

The trio began to strike the beast, who was only able to weakly fight back. She took so much damage, that she was spitting up the audience members she ate. She then swiped her claws, tossing the trio into the wall.

"No!" she shouted. "I will not give up! Not now, not ever! You hear me? Never!"

"Then I'll just have to beat you the old fashion way!" BB shouted. Before Hooktail could even react, BB came out of Hooktail's ear, crawled up to the top of her head, turned into a gorilla, and slammed down on her head.

A very loud and painful crack could be heard before BB leaped off, Hooktail's eyes spinning as she staggered. "B-but… I… I… GURK! How? Why? There's still so much I wanted to do with my life… so many meals…"

She the roared for the last time and flipped over, twitching for bit until she moved no more. In the background, the vibration caused the castle wall backdrop to fall forward. Hooktail was dead.

**You got 30 star points!**

The world shifted back to normal, with the dead Hooktail lying on her back.

"Yes! We did it guys!" Goombella finally cheered. "All we have to do now is search for that Crystal Star we can't seem to locate."

"Yeah, but what about Starfire?" BB asked.

Suddenly a familiar energy sound came behind them. They looked as a large circle of Hooktail's belly glowed bright green and then erupted from a beam of the same light. A certain orange hand then rose from the hole, hoisting the remainder of her up. It was Starfire, though covered in gray-ish goo and carrying a blue shell.

"We have made it sir!" Starfire announced happily as the shell leaped from her arms.

It fell to the floor, the limbs and head poking out. It was the same koopa as from Koops's picture. "Ah ha! We're out! We're finally out!" he cheered happily.

"Starfire!" BB greeted.

"Friend Beast Boy!" she shouted happily before flying into BB and snatching him into a hug. "Oh friend Beast Boy, you have no idea just how excited I am to finally see the face of someone I know!"

"Great to see you too Star, but you're choking me!" BB croaked as his face turned a whole new shade of blue.

"Oh, my apologies friend Beast Boy," Starfire said as she released the wheezing companion. "So, if I may ask, what brings you to this horrible castle where she of a hooked tail resides?"

"It's a long story Star, I'll tell you when we get home. But what are you doing here?"

"During the battle against the Hive, a large lightning bolt struck the ground, knocking me out. When I awoke, I was in this unfamiliar town called Petalburg. I then heard from the strange creatures that this horrible dragon was eating them all, so I set out to destroy the beast. But it was too powerful for me in my weakened state. It kept me imprisoned to serve as a meal today. So, who are your new friends?"

"Oh, well the human is Mario, the girl is Goombella, and the turtle is Koops. We came to beat Hooktail for Petalburg and search for a Crystal Star."

"What is a Crystal Star? And for what reason would you need it?"

During this whole time, another reunion was occurring since the koopa came out.

"Whoa! It… it can't be!" Koops gasped in disbelief. "Da… Dad?"

The koopa then noticed his son who was running up to him. "Hey! You're… you're Koops! Hey son! You've gotten so big since I saw you last!"

Mario looked on in shock, seeing as how killing Hooktail did bring back Koops's father. "Looks like I was-a wrong..."

"Well, yeah…" Koops shrugged. "I guess I have. But who cares dad? I mean, golly! What happened to you? Where've you been all this time?"

"Well I came here a while back to deal with Hooktail, and all was well and good, but just before my finishing blow, she played a trick on me and gobbled me down whole. I've been hiding in my shell for the ten years since then inside Hooktail's belly! At least until now when that orange girl came down and helped us both out with some strange powers she had. And boy was it nasty! Yuck! I'm so glad to finally get out!"

"Honestly dad!" Koops scolded. "Don't you know how worried about you we all were? For ten long years we all thought you'd… you know! We thought your story was finished!"  
"Oh, sorry son…" the dad mused. "But I'm ok! That's good, right? We're together now, right? Hey speaking of which, what are you doing here anyway?"

"Oh come on dad," Koops said with a smile. "I came here to defeat Hooktail who's been wreaking havoc in town. And my friend Beast Boy over there is looking for a gem called the Crystal Star."

"Crystal Star? Hey, Beast Boy!" he shouted, interrupting the Titans' conversation. "When Koops said a Crystal Star, this wouldn't be what he's talking about, would it?"

He then pulled out a large five point star, cleanly carved and made out of what appeared to be pure diamond that glittered with silver sparkles.

"Where'd ya get that?" BB asked as he came to the gem.

"I found it down there in Hooktail's belly. Nice huh? I kept it as a souvenir," he answered with a chuckle. "So this is the thing you're looking for? Perfect! Just perfect! You can have it!"

"Really?" BB asked with a smile as the shine of the gem filled his eye.

"Come now! I won't take no for an answer. You're Koops's friend. Please take it!" he requested with a bow.

BB smiled as he touched the gem which then circled around him before landing in his outstretched palm.

**END OF ARC**

_Beast Boy and friends finally got a Crystal Star in the castle after defeating Hooktail. Koops even reunited with his long-lost father, whom he thought was dead. Luck was even fortunate to bring Starfire, one of Beast Boy friends, back into friendly company. Yet they were unable to learn anything about the whereabouts of the princess or the other Titans. Where could Princess Peach or the remaining Teen Titans be? Yes… Beast Boy's adventure has only just begun._

* * *

_Save all game progress up to this point?_

_Saving… Do not touch the memory card in slot A or the power button…_

_Your progress was saved._

* * *

The Unknown Alias's status: Signed out.

Date of Update: 7/5/2008


	5. The Princess and the King

Teen Titans and the Thousand Year Door

Chapter 5

The Princess and the King

* * *

_Now loading the save file from memory card A… Don't touch the memory card in slot A or the Power or Reset buttons…_

_The save file has been loaded._

* * *

In an unknown location, a mechanical view activates a series of cameras to see into a specific room. In a large room, two of the X-naut soldiers marched into the room, escorting two prisoners. Was the familiar Princess Peach, and the second was none other than Raven. The only difference was that Raven's hands were clasped by large gauntlets that had an unusual glow to them. The soldiers entered, crossed their arms over their chests in an 'X' as a salute and brought them to the center of the room. You could even see Lord Crump by the side leaning up against the wall.

"O great exalted Grodus!" one of the soldiers spoke. "We brought the prisoners as you ordered sir!"

The mechanical view zoomed into Peach as something in its system sparked. In the actual room, a new voice sounded.

"Well, well, well, my pet… Isn't it about time you told us where the map is Princess?" The voice belonged to a large and portly figure with a large black hat that showed a computer inside. He wore the same yellow goggles, the rest of his face hidden by a wrap around white cravat. He wore a black cape with yellow lining and purple inside trim over a purple robe with black linings and sleeves. In his white gloved hands, he held a long gold scepter with a computerized sphere at the end. "Princess Peach, you will speak when spoken to."

"I'm telling you, I don't know!" Princess Peach insisted.

"There's no point in trying to hide it silly girl," Grodus tisked. "We know you had it. We KNOW this. Trust me, it's very much in your interest to be absolutely honest with us. We X-nauts are not all rainbows and lollipops, I assure you. We're quite nasty."

Princess Peach remained silent.

"Very well then," Grodus muttered before casting his gaze on Raven. "How about you then? Just how did you appear in our base? And perhaps you have some friends somewhere?"

Before Raven could speak however, a holographic screen appeared in the air, and it was Fred Fredburger!

"Ah, hello? Sir Grodus? I have, uh… the re-con-ni-scence!"

"Report at once," Grodus spoke with an edge of anticipation.

"I found out that there was a Crystal Star was with Hooktail, but somebody took it!" Fred said happily.

"What? WHAT did you say? Someone else is after the Crystal Stars? And he defeated that Hooktail creature, you say? SPEAK Admin Fred!"

"Ah, yup! It's true!" Fred said nonchalantly. "I even saw them myself! One was really fat with a red hat and overalls, and the other was a green human!"

"Mario!" "Beast Boy?" Peach and Raven whispered respectively, in relief and confusion. Again, respectively.

"Excuse me? Mario? Beast Boy?" Grodus asked of his prisoners.

"Oh no," Peach moaned light of her blunder while Raven glared at her captor.

"Gaack ack ack ack ack!" Grodus cackled. "I see. So you both know of these heroes, do you? These fools matter not at all. I'll know all about them before long, that I promise. I grow bored of talking. Take Princess Peach and the telepath back to the holding room."

"Yes sir!" the two shouted.

"And men! Take good care of Princess Peach. Understand? She is not to be harmed," Grodus warned gravely.

"You got it sir!" they replied before escorting the two away.

"Well Lord Crump," Grodus called. "If these Mario and Beast Boy characters have the map, then it's highly likely they'll find the Crystal Star we're hunting in the Boggly Woods. You must return there immediately and hasten the excavation. It must not fail."

"Whuzzat?!" Crump cried as he woke back up and wiped away the drool on his chin. "Oh, yeah, sure! Roger Grodus! And with that, Pow! I'm gone!"

As Crump left, Grodus palmed his scepter in thought. "I wonder if sending Lord Crump there alone is wise. He is a bit… out there…"

"Uh, excuse me, Sir Grodus?" Fred called from the screen. "But can I have my nachos now please?"

Grodus stood there in silence before speaking. "Very well. But after you're finished, go to Boggly Woods and help Lord Crump. Understood?"

"Understood, yes!" Fred waved before the screen turned off.

"X-naut! I summon you!" Grodus shouted.

The door opened again as another X-naut marched in with an 'X' salute. Remember him. His name is Bob.

"You rang dude? I mean sir? You rang sir, Grodus dude? Grodus? Sir Grodus, sir?"

"Shut up. Go get the Shadow Sirens over here."

"The Shadow Sirens?" the soldier stuttered. "But they-"

"I don't care how you planned to end that sentence, fool. Go get them. Now."

"Gotcha!" Bob answered with a salute before running out the door.

"The honorable Grodus has need of us? Then we arrive without delay," an old and creepy voice sounded. With that, three shadow like beings arose from the floor. Each was feminine in appearance and wore white gloves. The first was old and hunched with lavender hair, a pointed nose, a wicked smile, and a blue hat with white stripes that hid her eyes. The second was large, had a small smile, carrot top bangs, and wore a yellow hat with white stripes. The final was petite, had swirly pink hair, rosy cheeks, a small smile, and a red hat with white stripes.

"Mmmwee hee hee hee hee…" the leader cackled. "Pray tell, did the princess tell you where the map is?"

"Still you tongue Beldam," Grodus spat. "We would already have it if you'd snatched her earlier. But now, since you missed your chance, some poor fools named Mario and Beast Boy have the map."

"It wasn't my fault, truly!" Beldam begged. "There were too many praying eyes there. Too many. Besides, a strange old man showed up at the moment of truth and we had to retreat. Why worry? All we need to do now is find these gentlemen and steal the map, yes?"

"Indeed, that is YOUR duty. Must I remind you?" Grodus said, his anger rising. "That map is vital to the X-naut plan. I will have my men prepare all available information on Mario and Beast Boy. For now, hear me Beldam! You Shadow Sirens must take care of these troublemakers!"

"Mmmmwee hee hee hee! Fear not sire. I, Beldam, shall return with what you seek" she replied with a bow before turning to her comrades. "Let's go my lovelies! Marilyn! Vivian! Come! We've got a job to do!"

With that, all three of the ladies sank back into the shadows as they came. The mechanical sight then switched cameras until it came upon Princess Peach and Raven in the room.

'_Oh dear… here we go again…' _Princess Peach thought to herself. _'I can't believe I'm kidnapped again. Mario and Toadsworth must be worried sick. Again. But… where in the world am I anyway? It's so unfamiliar… I wish I could at least let Mario and Toadsworth know that I've been caught…'_

Soon enough though, her sight came to her fellow captive who sat in a meditative state. _'But still, it must be harder on her than for me. At least I'm used to being kidnapped; this must be her first time! I know how hard it is. Feeling so helpless and hopeless… I guess I'll just have to help keep her spirits up!'_

She stepped over to the demoness, extending her hand out to shake. "Hello, my name is Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom."

Raven opened her eyes before raising her gauntlets that shielded her hands. "My name is Raven of the Teen Titans."

"Who are those?" Peach asked as she sat down beside her.

"We're a crime fighting team from another world."

"Wait, you're from another world?" Peach asked in wonder.

"Yes," Raven said calmly. "My team keeps a good account on criminal groups, and I know we never heard of any of these X-nauts. Nor have we even heard of any Mushroom Kingdom. No offense."

"None taken," she smiled. "So, you know this Beast Boy they said was with Mario?"

"Yeah," she said with a twitch of her lip. "He can turn into any animal he likes, he's a strict vegetarian, and he's a really bad joker. But he tries."

"So, why are they making you wear these?" Peach asked, lifting one the gauntlets.

"I have telepathic powers over dark energy. Somehow they created these and it's preventing me from using them," she answered grimly as she glanced at her reflection. "If only I could get them off we could get out of here."

"Speaking of which, how did you get up here?"

"All that I remember was my team fighting a group of our enemies, and then some unnatural lightning struck and knocked me out. I wake up, and here I am defending myself from these guys until a lucky shot knocked me out again."

Soon a new sound came, startling them. They looked to the side to see the door open. They remained silent as no one came in. Peach then stood up and looked at her cellmate. "Shall we then?"

Raven remained quiet for a bit before she got up. "I can't guarantee your safety Peach."

Neither of them spoke on as they went down the empty hallway. "Weird. It doesn't look like anyone's around."

"Then somebody wants to see us privately," Raven assumed as she went on to a door at the far end of the hallway that was already open.

The room they entered was bare save for one side of the room where a large computer system was in the wall. The room was dark until lights came on and the computer came to life. The two were on guard as a mechanically male voice sounded from nearby speakers.

"Hello Princess Peach. Hello Raven."

"Who said that?" Peach called. "Where are you?" Raven demanded.

"How amusing," the voice continued. "I am right here before your eyes. I am this laboratory's main computer. I am the TEC-XX. Many call me TEC. You may. Sir Grodus created me to be a perfect computer, one that is flawless in its reason."

It was then that the two noticed the computer, and the small camera that was positioned over the screen.

"Wait," Peach realized. "Grodus… he's that awful dome-headed thing who interrogated us, right?"

"Sir Grodus is not awful. He is a very great person. He is marvelous," TEC stated. Worse part was that he actually sounded like he meant it.

"There's always somebody who says that about the worst people in the world," Raven spat. "And most of the time they can't be changed. Now why did you bring us here?"

"I am unsure," TEC answered. "An unusual program deviation occurred when I observed Princess Peach earlier. My higher brain circuitry malfunctioned and nearly overheated at your image. Also an unidentified impulse sped through my processors. These events are new to me. There is more to this phenomenon as well. I ran diagnostic programs and their solution was… I want to know more about you. I want to observe you. Such a compulsion has no precedence. Cause unknown. I, the perfect computer… I must diagnose this unusual situation. I will not fail. That is why I led you here."

"Wait," Peach said hesitantly. "Did you just say, you want to observe me? To know more about me?"

"Honestly if you simplify the computer terms, it sounds like you're attracted to the princess…" Raven muttered in concern.

"Impossible!" Peach gasped. "It can't be. It's a computer."

"An attraction?" TEC wondered. "Is that what has happened to me? But Peach is a fully organic life form. There is no metal for such magnetism."

"No, not that kind of attraction," Peach whispered. "Besides… it's just too weird."

"Please tell me," TEC begged. "Please. I am the world's best computer. I am perfect. There should not be anything that I do not understand. Please. If you know of the cause, then let me know."

"It sounds like you're in love," Raven answered frankly.

"Love? What is love? I cannot compute this…"

"Wait, you don't know what love is?" Peach asked.

"Figures…" Raven muttered.

"Love… how do I explain?" Peach began. "Love tells you when you want to be with a person forever. It makes you feel happy just to see that person happy, smiling, having fun. When you love someone, you will do anything to help when he or she is in trouble."

"Happiness? Fun?" TEC spoke as a few programs ran across his screen. "I have definitions for these words but… My programming is insufficient. There should be nothing I cannot comprehend. I am a perfect computer."

"Listen TEC," Raven spoke, "Emotions are a major part of my powers, so I know I'm right when I say this. Love, like any other emotion, is something that must be felt, not comprehended."

TEC remained silent for a minute before speaking once more, astounding them anew. "Princess Peach, Raven, will you teach me to feel this thing called love?"

"WHAT?!" they gasped, Raven in anger and Peach in disbelief before she continued. "You're a computer! Why would you care about love?"

"I am perfect," TEC answered. "There must be nothing that I cannot comprehend. Nothing. That is why you must help me understand this thing called love. Please. If you have any wishes that I can grant you in exchange, I will grant them. Of course I am unable to grant such a wish as letting you escape."

"You are in no position to ask anything of us!" Raven shouted with her eyes on the verge of glowing with her powers. "You kidnapped us for who knows how long, are now going to try and harm our friends, and then suddenly you just demand that we teach you to feel an emotion? If these things weren't stopping me I'd tear this base apart! Why should we trust you?"

"I understand that you are angry. That emotion I comprehend. You need not teach me now. But I must learn of this thing. I must. There is no alternative. I must be a perfect computer. That is why, if you just consider teaching me, I will grant your wishes. Do you understand me? Now, tell me your wishes."

Raven was about to rant again until Peach held her arm and face the computer. "If that's the case, then can I contact someone? The sooner the better…"

"Yes, of course you may," TEC said as a cover drew back to reveal a keyboard. "Use my communicator to send wireless mail to anywhere you want. If you so wish, you can use it right now. It is no trouble. Use the keyboard in front of you. Enter the recipient, address, and message. Now, what for you Raven?"

Raven remained silent until she sighed in defeat. "My friend has a communicator, but it only works vocally. Is there anyway you can track it down so that I can talk to him later?"

"But of course," TEC answered. "However I will need something of a similar state for tracking."

Raven winced. "The X-nauts confiscated it when they caught me. Peach, Beast Boy's probably with your friend. Just say that I'm here with you and that I said to keep that communicator on. I'm going back to the room."

"Is there anything that I can give you in the meantime?" TEC offered.

Raven looked down at her cuffs until she turned to the talking device. "Can you remove these things for me?"

"Yes, I can…" TEC said before the things snapped open and dropped to the floor. "I must warn you though, they might come to you for information on Beast Boy. I'll warn you if they come so that you can put them back on."

Raven rubbed her wrists before nodding and picking up the gauntlets. She gave one final nod as thanks before leaving. Peach said nothing as she came to the keyboard and typed her message. "OK, it's ready TEC. Could you send it?"

An image of a flying envelope went across the screen before a beep of recognition sounded. "The message has been sent. For the time being, you may return to you room. I will you two in again when I want to ask you something."

Peach went to the door before looking once more at her new student. "Ok then. Good night."

She left as the doors closed and the lights dimmed off again. "Good night Princess Peach."

* * *

Off in another land, a large grey brick castle stood out on a strip of land over a lava lake. Inside, many of the koopas dressed in armor or weapons waited in a large hall until the doors swung open, squashing two of them. In stomped a large koopa with orange skin, yellow spikes, flaming red hair with matching eyebrows, yellow horns, and pearly white teeth.

"GRA HA HA HAR!" the beast roared. "Bowser, the mighty Koopa King has arrived! Hold you applause minions! But now that I'm here, Kammy! You crusty old hag! Why did you summon me?"

One of the squashed armored koopas, known as Koopatrols, moaned as he got back up and closed the doors. "Uh, great lord Bowser? The crusty hag Kammy Koopa will arrive momentarily. I'm really sorry for the inconvenience, but please wait at the rear of the room."

"Ah! Lord Bowser!" and feminine old voice shouted behind him. An elderly female koopa with large glasses, a purple robe and hat with pink sleeves, and a small gold scepter with a ruby top came in. "I've just now returned. I'm terribly sorry to keep you waiting my lord."

"I bet you are Kammy Koopa!" Bowser grumbled. "Now out with it! Why have you called me here?"

"Please your grumpiness! Don't be so impatient with your poor servant," Kammy begged. "Ahem, it's my displeasure to report that Mario, that scum, is off to a town called Rogueport."

Bowser scoffed. "Am I Mario's babysitter? I don't care what he's doing! Are you going to call me every time he blows his nose or what? Sheesh!"

"Yes, well, you see my lord, apparently Mario is hunting for an amazing treasure."

This bit of news changed Bowser's mood. "Tuh-treasure?!"

"Yes," Kammy answered as she looked through a few papers. "Mario has gone in search of star shaped jewels known as the Crystal Stars. I'm researching just what they are, but there's no question of their high value."

"The Crystal Stars, you say?" Bowser chuckled as he scratched his chin. "They sound like good world conquering tools to me! I want them! Yes… very good. Continue researching this for me, you brainy hag, you."

"Yes sir. Thank you sir. Leave it to me. By the way lord Bowser, do you like fried eggs?" Kammy asked.

"Do I?" Bowser said with a lick of his chops. "I love fried eggs! LOVE them! But, what a weird question. Why do you ask?"  
"Well, during my Mario recon, I stopped in a lovely place called Petal Meadows," Kammy answered with a smile. "I was planning on taking everyone there for a picnic, having some eggs and toast. Of course I wouldn't think of sending out the invites without asking you first lord Bowser!"

"AIRHEAD!!" Bowser roared, shaking the whole castle. "A picnic?! You MORON! This is no time for fun! See, this is why my evil plans always derail! Because you clods always goof off!" he shouted as he began to stomp the ground.

"Oh dear, lord Bowser! Please calm down! Remember your blood pressure!" Kammy begged. Suddenly another koopa in a blue robe and glasses carrying the same scepter came in and whispered something into Kammy's ear. "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! Is this true?! Lord Bowser! Terrible news! Some bold fool abducted Princess Peach in Rougeport!"

"Huh-whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!" Bowser roared as he stopped stomping. "Tell me you're lying Kammy! How? When? Where? Who'd do such a thing? Besides me?"  
"I'm afraid we don't have that information quite yet. The investigation's ongoing," Kammy reported. "One thing is most certainly conformed however: the princess has been kidnapped."

"Under NO circumstances is ANYONE allowed to kidnap her without MY say-so! I will not stand for this! I'm going to Rougeport NOW! I've got to kidnap her back!" Bowser shouted as he raced out of the room. Kammy couldn't even take five steps before Bowser came back in his Koopa Clown Kart and busted out of the castle. Kammy soon came back on a broom with purple and light blue bristles. "But, your gunginess! Wait up!" she shouted as she gave chase.

The hall remained quiet until one of the koopatrols finally spoke up. "So, who's gonna fix that hole in the wall, cause I know I won't!"

* * *

_The Legend of Rougeport  
__Part 2. The Crystal Stars  
__In order to increase its already formidable power the demon created Crystal Stars to hold the essence of the most powerful hearts of the worlds. One of these stars was placed in each country to exert the demon's influence. One of the castles built __to contain these stars still stands near Petal Meadows._

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_Save all game progress up to this point?_

_Now saving… Do not touch the memory card in slot A or the power button…_

_Your progress is saved._

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The Unknown Alias's status: Signed out

Date of Update: 7/19/2008


End file.
